Machina Deus
by The BioCobra
Summary: A deviation of the 'Invasion of Mobius' comic arc. With alternate history and a back story on a supernatural scale. With all established characters of that arc plus new OC protagonist. Already over 100,000 words! OC x Lien-Da. Currently discontinued...
1. Prologue: Diamond Alpha

Hello to all, this is BioCobra and here is the fanfic I promised to deliver upon my signing up to this site. I got into writing it when I first read the Archie Sonic comic arc involving Scourge and his invasion of Mobius, and I just built up this idea in my head about how I wanted to make a story which had elements of that arc but deviated to suit a much bigger background. This grew and grew and results in what you are now reading. My plan for this is to post a chapter each time I finish a chapter on my laptop, so time between posts will vary accordingly.

Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of either Sega or Archie comics.

Bionics, Diamond Alpha and Creator's Diamond are of my own imagining.

Sildan and Alzain are my brother's creation. Credit goes to him.

The Great Creator and Diabolus borrow from Christianity in terms of religious context. No offence is meant to any religious believers who may read this.

Now, enough of my ramblings, I'll let you read on. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Machina Deus**

**Prologue: Diamond Alpha**

There are many different preconceptions about the nature of the universe, and there are many species that have and will continue to attempt to unlock advanced knowledge of the definitive answer. The sad and simple fact is of course that many races never truly find out in their time and even if by some twist of fate they do, it never passes on to the rest of the universe. A popular theory on the matter is that all universes and dimensions are stacked up against one another in a line, and this is almost true. Instead of a line, the Multiverse (As the conglomerate of universes and dimensions is known) is formed more like a collection of cells in an organism; an insanely huge multi-cellular structure with millions of infinitely large cells.

Another thing that many species in the Multiverse conspire over is the ultimate question 'Who created all this? Why were we created? Do we have any purpose?' Everything was created by someone, this is the truth, but very nearly no one is ever to know who or why: No mortal at any rate, and if they find out it is forbidden of them to share their knowledge with anyone beyond their own world. The Great Creator of All Things Holy, as explicitly known by His followers, is responsible for the creation of everything living; be it mortal or divine. He did not however create Chaos Tainted, undead or anything as damned as that ilk. He is omniscient, omnipotent, eternal and beyond the need for a single physical being.

The Great Creator does not bother Himself to exist on any of the secondary realities He has conjured up, but resides as He always has in the Alpha Dimension. He lives upon a magnificent star, larger than the largest Hypergiants, forged entirely of a mystical, ridiculously powerful substance referred to as Creator's Diamond or, in very specific circumstances, Chaos Diamond. The exact method of creation will be mentioned later in our tale, but needless to say, it held power of biblical proportions.

For example, a Creator's Diamond shard the size of a large pebble had the power to affect an entire planet, so it's hard to imagine how much power is held in a Creator's Diamond 10,000,000,000,000 miles high and wide exactly. This is the pinnacle and extension of the Creator's material influence in the Multiverse, glowing in a rainbow of the colours of Chaos Untainted; the Diamond Alpha.

Upon the Diamond Alpha resides the Spire Primus, standing at a majestic 65000 miles high, and upon which the Great Creator Himself lives and watches over all creation. Around this are the six 50000 mile high Celestial Spires of His Concilium, His elite among the gods that serve Him. Stretched thin over all the rest of the Star are the 10000 mile high Spires of the ten thousand other gods that directly owe subservience to the Great Creator. None of the gods, even the billions of them independent of His rule, dare speak His name, for to do so was seen as sacrilegious, a curse, and risked the Creator visiting His wrath upon that unlucky individual. It was also, on a more practical note, a dangerous compromise to the secrecy necessary to His existence.

Inside the star is locked the infinite realm where all the souls of the dead who are not lost to the void go to spend eternity in paradise, and is known simply as Elysium. The deific population of the Diamond Alpha all have a say in the decisions made about the Multiverse, and their planets or galaxies in particular, by the Great Creator, but they have no true direct influence unless given permission by Him. It is now going to be one of those times, for a crisis is stirring on a particular planet in one of the prime universes; a crisis that could threaten the security and safety of the Multiverse and even the Diamond Alpha.

* * *

"This matter would sooner be dealt with by the blades of one of _my_ acolytes!"

In the massive council chambers of the Diamond Alpha, Bionics watched the events unfolding before him with his blue, mechanical left eye and exhaled slowly. The council was going through its routine vigour, where debates were never raised too far and everyone could reach an agreement, all except for Alzain; the god of assassins. Assassination was still a major part of death and politics, even now. Mortals always had a terrible knack for corruption and Alzain obviously wanted to capitalise on this entirely. Even Bionics had to admit in his mortal days he had come close to being consumed by vengeance and an intruding evil. His hand instinctively reached for his left eye. He felt a tingling in the socket as the painful memory of those long and bloody years... He shook off the memory. It was not worth considering here and now of all times.

"Hey, are you feeling all right?" Sildan, god of psychokinesis and Chaos Indiscriminate, anthropomorphic black and white humanoid hedgehog, as well as Bionics' personal best friend, looked at him with a concerned expression as he sat next to him on the long table just next to the Concilium's seats.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you for your consideration" Bionics replied smiling. Sildan smiled back and both of them turned back to the dispute raised by Alzain. The god of assassins cried out lividly "It would be the easiest way to solve your problem, many of your problems in fact..."

"Do not presume to overstep your authority, Alzain, matters more delicate and precise than most require a slow and bloodless approach. Learn to respect that." the Great Creator said with reverence.

Alzain's face contorted with anger and astonishment. "I... yes High Lord" he said, grudgingly. The Great Creator expression remained beatific and he clasped his hands together. "Excellent, now that is the end of this gathering, good day to you all."

The entire council of gods rose from their seats and most simply vanished, translocating to their Spires to oversee the tasks assigned to them. Other walked out through the doors and then flew out.

"Good luck, mate" Sildan said to Bionics as they stood facing each other.

"You too, friend" Bionics replied, clapping Sildan on the shoulder with his mechanical right arm. Sildan did likewise with his right hand, and then vanished in a flash of teal coloured light.

The next council to decide the Multiverse' fate was at last over, and the more important business of Bionics' between himself and the Great Creator could start. He concentrated and translocated to the Spire Primus' entrance before beginning the long walk to the Creator's chambers. Bionics was a member of the Concilium, the chosen 6 that served as the Creator's finest servants and agents. It was odd that most of the gods on the Diamond Alpha chose the anthropomorphic animals as their primary physical template, and Bionics had never understood why they did so.

They could change their appearance to suit whatever species saw them, but when other gods saw them it was more often than not as anthropomorphic animals. Bionics was, like his friend, a hedgehog, but he was deep purple, with three head quills, shaped in a triangle, each spine arching inwards towards the centre of the back of his head. His organic right eye's iris was also blue, and he usually always wore matte purple powered body armour, a white cloak with a pair of purple wings attached to a broadsword, which had seven distinct colours on it. He also had a purple helmet with a shiny black tinted visor which he only wore in thick combat. This armour covered all parts of him save his right mechanical arm, which was coloured chrome silver.

The Concilium of the Creator, at present, was made up of the opposing aspects of nature. There were the gods of life and death, the two building blocks for the Multiverse, in that anything mortal created by the Creator's hand would also wither away to keep the population in balance. There were the gods of all things Light and all things Dark. These two kept the natural harmony of the Multiversal mind state, balancing the good and evil in all creatures' hearts. Finally, there were the gods of all things organic and artificial, keeping the balance of natural beauty and artificial efficiency.

Bionics was the machine god, the _Machina Deus_, the god of all artificial creations and he was very honoured to hold his position on the Concilium at his age. Most of those gods were ancient, dating back to the origins of the Great Creator, quintillions of years ago. Bionics was just 12,028 years old, but had great wisdom in machines, of the ways of the Creator, and sadly in warfare.

His left, artificial eye which served as his main source of vision doubled up as an inhumanly accurate targeting system; tinted blue, digital and cold. His bionic arm too housed a horrible array of nanotechnologically compacted weapons; a Gatling laser, a stun blaster, a sniper laser, an anti-vehicle palm laser, a 'Seismic Fist' and a flamethrower.

His personal arsenal also included his own special silver coloured pistol. It was based off of the ancient Desert Eagle Mark XIX. It had a holographic sight based off of the old EOTech model mounted on the top at the front on a Picatinny rail. There was also a targeting laser slung under the barrel. For up close and personal, he had his energy katanas, empty hilts which flared to produce 2 ½ foot long green curved blades.

That wasn't even the final bit. The two hilts would fold away into two half hilts, and these could then be combined to create a 5 foot long energy nodachi, a very potent long bladed sword with a purple glow. He also had a 2 ½ foot scabbard and hilt on the left side of his hip, with his most powerful weapon sheathed within...

_Enough!_ Bionics shook off the thoughts of the implements of death that laid waiting within him and thought of the peace and Multiversal balance for which all the gods of the Diamond Alpha had strived for forever. _Through all our efforts it must be done. _Bionics finally reached the grand door and the regal white carpet that denoted the most holy chambers of the Great Creator. They opened of their own accord as he made to step inside.

The room was the most grand and regal location on the Diamond Alpha, and perhaps even the Multiverse. There were the massive pillars, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the table, the ornaments and the frames for ancient and priceless tapestries, even the grand throne of the Great Creator Himself; all carved from the Creator's Diamond and all glowed the seven fundamental colours of Chaos Untainted. The Transparency of Creator's Diamond could be changed on a whim by the Creator, or he who mastered that much that was allocated to him by the Creator.

The Great Creator Himself was seated on His magnificent throne, sitting in anticipation of Bionics' arrival. "Ah, Bionics, at last" He said in a cool and soothing voice.

"Most High Lord" Bionics said, kneeling on one knee in respect to Him.

"Bionics, do stand, you know my views on how we in the Concilium conduct ourselves with equality."

"As you say Lord, but some habits die hard. Of course there is also the fact that I believe it proper to show you my respect at all times."

The Great Creator allowed a smile to spread across His face. "As you wish, however, I fear we must move on with our most urgent topic."

"Yes my Lord, do continue" Bionics said with rapt attention.

The Creator stood and made His way to an intricately fashioned plinth with a bowl on top full of many colours, and allowed these swirling colours to manifest themselves into coherent and moving, three dimensional shapes. "There is a great threat looming, a threat that could expose us to the rest of the Multiverse, and lead to our very destruction."

"How is this possible?" Bionics inquired with sudden look of fear adorning his face.

"The forces of Chaos Tainted have been waiting in the shadows of the Multi-verse and the pits of the void space in between, growing in power, growing in influence in all the darkest places. Now they have reached the precipice of their plans, and now seek a body of great strength with a weak and vulnerable mind which will act as the vassal of their leader."

"What leader, my Lord?" Bionics grew more restless with every word said. He feared he already knew the answer, and did not want to hear it.

"Diabolus: It is he who ascends now."

Bionics nearly recoiled at the mention of the name "By the Diamond Alpha, Diabolus!" Diabolus the infinitely-damned was the most terrible threat in all of the Multiverse. He was once the most favoured servant of the Great Creator, until his desire for power, unwatched by the Creator, corrupted him and drove him to attempt to take the Diamond Alpha for his own. He failed, and was cast out into the void space to wither away.

Diabolus did not wither away. Sustained by his hunger for power and his unending hatred of the Great Creator and His servants, he created Chaos Tainted to serve as his malicious minions, along with creating the undead to serve a similar purpose. With this twisted power and mighty armies to serve his every whim, he had made countless attacks on the material universes in vain attempts to escape his prison in the immaterial void and be able to make his last and ultimate attack on the Diamond Alpha itself.

"If there is even the slightest chance that Diabolus can gain access to the material realm, then he must be stopped at all costs!" Bionics said with his face setting into his serious military expression.

"Indeed Bionics" the Great Creator responded gravely, "that is why I called you here now, that is why you are the only one to know about this: You must be the one to stop him. You are my most trusted tactician in the realms of conflict, you have the right morals too, and you are familiar with where you must take this battle."

"My Lord, you trust this great service to me? Do you really believe me capable of dealing with this sort of crisis?" At these words, the Great Creator smiled warmly "I can think of no-one finer. You are young by the standards of the gods, but in your time you have served efficiently and without question or hesitation. I trust _you_ in this matter, are you prepared to go soon?"

Bionics arched his back upwards and nodded curtly at his Lord and master. "Yes my Lord. Might I inquire as to the target destination?"

"You might indeed" the Great Creator waved His hand and the image inside the plinth changed to show a vaguely familiar planet. "Template Universe Prime, the Milky Way galaxy, star designation Sol, intersystem coordinates 1.618. You know the planet well enough." And Bionics did know it. The familiarity now clarified and he was staring at the planet he had once called home: Mobius.

Once known as Earth when Bionics had existed upon its surface he had fought a great war against a foul demon in vengeance of it murdering his brother and destroying his body enough so that he had to have bionic replacements built in, which he had upgraded to military grade. It was after this that the Great Creator had gifted Bionics with godhood and tempered his soul.

After his ascension Bionics had witnessed the coming the Xorda and their systematic destruction of all human life by bombarding the planet with their Gene Bombs. They not only succeeded in killing all but a very fortunate few humans, but forced the evolution of the rest of the planet's animal kingdom to evolve into the anthropomorphised humanoid creatures that inhabited the planet, now rechristened Mobius by the animals, who were now the Mobians.

What the records did not tell, because they had been destroyed in the Xorda attack, was that there were anthropomorphic animals before said attack. Humans had been experimenting, successfully and with ethnic governmental support, on animals to give them a level of humanoid responses and intelligence equal and excelling those of humans. Bionics had been one of three children, two brothers and a sister, born to two parents who were created by the program.

Each of the Furries (as the human race had so colourfully nicknamed them) had been given citizenship across the planet and had integrated comfortably into society. All of the first generation was killed in the Xorda bombardment, as their genetically engineered bodies were not strong enough to survive forced evolution. The second generation Furries had either devolved exponentially into the most basic organisms or found shelter in stasis provided by Bionics himself to hide from the world for many centuries. Their descendants had been some of the premier Furries to re-establish civilisation on Mobius.

Bionics awoke from his deep and sorrowful trail of thought to find that he had slackened ever so slightly at seeing the planet Mobius swathed in the colours of the image's ethereal frame.

"I trust you are well?" The question the Creator had asked was concerned but His stance and facial expression had not changed.

"... I will be alright" Bionics replied as he regained his composure.

"I hope so. Now, can you be ready to take your Battle Spire, your troops and your ship to Mobius Prime?" Bionics stood to attention and placed his mechanical fist over his heart "yes my Lord."

"Excellent, then this meeting is concluded. I wish you the best of luck my young friend. But remember this also; you must protect Mobius itself from any taint. There is, at this time on the planet, a war. This war has many sides and threatens to tear the planet asunder, bring peace to this planet Bionics, and then deal with Diabolus and his malign scheme."

"Understood my Lord" Bionics bowed, then spun on his heel, and walked sharply out of the magnificent chamber.

A split second later he instantly disappeared and reappeared on the flat top of his Celestial Spire, sitting on the throne in the centre of the space on an elevated diagonal platform with stairs at the front. He allowed his mind to clear of normal thought and reached into the CPU of every robot soldier, pilot and engineer under his command. All his servants were mechanical and were utterly devoted to his cause.

"_All units, we have the supreme honour of receiving a monumental task from the Great Creator; to cleanse the Multiverse of the filth of Diabolus himself, his forces of Chaos Tainted and to bring peace to the planet Mobius Prime. Prepare my Battle Spire at once. All troops and vehicles are to make ready for transportation and combat, Bring the _Solaris_ up to power and standby status immediately along with all internal combat aircraft and spacecraft. All weapons on the Battle Spire are to be put into standby mode as well. That is all."_

It took just under 2 minutes for his 5 mile high Battle Spire to be made ready along with all his troops, ground vehicles and his space faring super-dreadnought, the _Solaris_. And when it was all ready Bionics now stood on the top of his new Spire and concentrated. With the blessing of the Great Creator, the power he sought was unlocked immediately and he changed to his true god form, where his body was all metal, with both eyes mechanical, his power armour was now integrated into his body, all the metal was his deep shade of purple with golden swirls and curves covering almost all of this. In addition he had sprouted massive silver wings on his back to replace where his white cloak had once been. His face now had no mouth and when he spoke his voice had another voice overlapping it, which sounded artificial and like a robot.

"_Excellent work, all of you. Now prepare to jump to intersystem coordinates 1.618; the Sol system, Milky Way, Template Universe Prime. _Solaris_, remain here until called forth by me to assist us."_

"_Understood, Lord Bionics"_ thousands of identical voices replied in absolute unison. Bionics let his concentration slip back to his own body, folded out his wings, stood up from the throne on the Battle Spire and waited. Then came the feeling that he knew meant they were all ready to set out and were waiting for his command. _"I'll guide you into a secure footing on the planet's surface. We are commencing inter-dimensional transport now."_

There was a flash of white light, and when it had cleared Bionics, and his Battle Spire, had vanished.

* * *

The prelude to war has begun. This story could be said to be, in essence, about a very long and very literal _Deus ex Machina._ No Lien-Da yet, but have patience and you shall be rewarded. Looking forward to reviews and criticisms if any. Watch out soon for our next (first) chapter: To Join the Bloody Fray!


	2. Chapter 1: To Join the Bloody Fray

Sonic and related characters are copyright of either Sega or Archie Comics.

Bionics, Diamond Alpha and Creator's Diamond are my own creations.

* * *

**Chapter 1: To Join the Bloody Fray**

There was a loud _thump_ as the black leather clad fist hit the large trestle table and very slightly creased the map laid upon it. Lien-Da, anthropomorphic Echidna and Kommissar of the Dark Legion screwed her eyes shut and let out a great sigh of exasperation. It was a mess, all of it was. The war that had erupted across the surface of Mobius was spreading like a great cancer, the war between the defending free peoples of the planet and the terrible invaders from what was called the Anti-Mobius, or Moebius, raged on without end.

At first the concerns had been about the Eggman Empire, and all the fighting had gone on thereabouts, but then Scourge the Hedgehog had arrived with his Suppression Squad and an army of his own wicked soldiers and proceeded to wreak havoc across the land. Scourge was Sonic the Hedgehog's evil Anti-Mobius counterpart and was, saying it as blunt as possible, an arrogant and powerful little bastard. He had taken over his own planet in a matter of days, proclaimed himself king, proceeded to attack Mobius on a campaign to make both planets his and so far had claimed much of the land on the continent which the Republic of Acorn resided, and had forced Dr Robotnik underground to rot away in his failure to complete his ultimate plans.

This blasted, blasted war mainly between the Republic and the Moebians was larger in size and ferocity than even the Great War so many years ago. It spread into the east coast of the continent and overseas in the Kingdom of Mercia as well as Downunda. It had somehow caught the Dark Legion in the middle and had whittled them down to the last few dozen soldiers and the last half dozen or so hovercraft transports. They were on the brink of collapse as a faction, and needed nothing short of a miracle to save them. It was not right, to be beaten by such base Mobians as the Republic's forces, or by such foreign and unworthy oppressors as Scourge's army.

Lien-Da stood up from the table and went out into the cold air of the black and starry night presented to her. The Dark Legion's camp was on a small cliff and had a brilliant view of the forests in the valley below it. She ran her hand through her mid-length crimson hair and looked out over the moonlit landscape with her deep, blue, weary looking eyes. All of her fur and hair was red, but she always dressed like a femme fatale, a dominatrix, with a black, almost entirely figure hugging leather body suit which had loose sleeves, a collar and showed off her cleavage. She also had a black belt with a bullwhip coiled and hanging from it, black leather boots and, more recently, black leather gloves.

From inside these gloves, she produced a cigarette and was about to take out the lighter from a belt pouch but stopped short and instead stared at the cigarette in her left hand. She thought about it as she toyed with it in between her fingers. Was it really worth it now? Despite her disregard for life and her desire for power, she had led a physically clean lifestyle, was this crisis worth breaking a lifetime positive habit with a new negative one? She closed her eyes as she thought, then gritted her teeth and threw the cigarette as hard as she could over the cliff edge, her eyes wild with sudden anger.

"Damn it all!" she shouted out to the moon above her. Several of the Dark Legionnaires stopped and turned to look at her with concern and fear simulated on the blank red eyes of their face masks. "What are you all staring at? Get back to work!" She glared menacingly at them all, and they sped on their way. This was all a blasted, sordid mess. Lien-Da rubbed her temples with her index and middle fingers and tried desperately to think of a way out of this, but no option presented itself.

She exhaled sharply and stared at the sky again, hoping to divine some meaning from the stars. After a second though, the stars seemed to be the least interesting thing in the sky. A small purple streak of light had appeared over the moon and was moving in a downward arc towards a massive circular plain at the end of the valley. This plain was connected by four valleys and it was a possible site for a battle. The purple light stopped just between the moon and the plain and hovered there precariously.

It was hard to see but she could just make out that it was a winged figure and as she realised this, there was a slight movement as the figure turned its head to look directly at her. In that instant she could see, impossibly clearly, that the figure's eyes seemed to glow a vibrant shade of blue.

There was sudden and searing pain in Lien-Da's forehead and she fell to her knees and as a deluge of images and feelings cascaded into her mind and flew in front of her eyes. Light of many colours, gripping darkness, gunfire, shouting, silence, cold, warmth, a warm touch, blood, sorrow, war, peace, hate, love, and a constant echoing scream of rage, yelling a name that reverberated through her mind into her very soul.

_"DIABOLUS!"_

She snapped out of it and found two Legionnaires kneeling down beside her and seeing what the problem with their Kommissar was. "I'm fine, just get away from me" the two soldiers jumped back and stood to attention. Then they all watched the still glowing figure hovering in the darkness. She felt a strange tingling in her soul as she placed her gaze back over it. She couldn't get rid of that feeling, and neither did she know what it meant yet.

It was still watching her for a moment, but then turned away and began to dance a golden lined pattern in the night air and in the centre of the plain below it. From high in the atmosphere, several golden streaks spiralled and rocketed downwards and formed the ethereal skeleton of a massive tower or spire. The lines grew wider and brighter, spinning faster and faster in the circle pattern they had traced out. Then there was a great flash of multicoloured light which should have been blinding yet all of the Dark Legion could stare directly at it with no ill effects. The flare seemed to linger for an eternity, and when it had cleared it had been replaced by a massive black shadow in the night sky, cutting the moon's image in two. The shadow reached for the high atmosphere and the top was barely in sight.

The little glowing figure spun around the tower once, and then the shadow glowed once again at the edges in 7 very familiar colours; the colours of the Chaos Emeralds. Then the colours were all but gone, and the shadow captured Lien-Da's entire vision. The hovering, glowing purple figure seemed to look at where the Dark Legion's camp was one last time, and then flew in another great arc upwards to what seemed the impossibly high summit of the tower and vanished as it reached its destination.

In just under 2 minutes, the greatest spectacle and mystery in Lien-Da's life had just played out in front of her without pause. Perhaps this was supposed to be some new form of weapon on behalf of one of the opposing factions, or maybe even the miracle she had just prayed in her mind for. Whatever it was, the winged figure that had brought it here was important, she just knew it. She knew that it had some answers to what was happening here, and come the morning, she was going to find out what...

* * *

The strange lights of inter-dimensional transport ways were like a weave of colours and patterns and lights in great tunnels, and they entranced Bionics as he flew past them impossibly fast and yet seemingly slowly, the great multicoloured light that was his Battle Spire was distant from him and he could see that light getting smaller.

He knew that they had reached their destination; the Spire had stopped and was waiting to be guided in. So he let his mind's eye fall over the land upon the surface of Mobius where the Spire could make berth. As he thought about the place, he felt a distortion of his environment and then... He was gripped by the sudden cold, crisp air of night time. He eyes traced the landscape that lay before him; he turned to see a moon bathing his form in its reflected white glow.

He flew down to get a closer look. He saw the land he was looking for, and it was just as he had seen it: A massive basin or plain, 1 mile across on all sides and linked to four large canyons, each one roughly 90 degrees apart from each other. The plain was large enough to accommodate his Spire, and the outer defensive wall with the Flak Towers, while still providing a huge amount of space to move troops and other such things outside of the defences.

_Perfect_ Bionics thought to himself. Suddenly a small alarm began to blip in the Head-up Display of his artificial eyes, and he turned to face the direction his warning indicated. He was staring down one of the valleys to a point where two small river basins became one larger one, and at this intersection there was a low cliff, and on the low cliff were tents, lights, soldiers, vehicles and a single figure standing towards the edge. He zoomed in to see that this figure was in fact a scarlet female Echidna, wearing black leather and looking straight at him.

As his eye met hers (which, he noted to his surprise, were the same shade of blue as his) his mind filled with a sudden rush of images, some were beautiful, some were terrible, all came in a great rush and all were backed by a voice, his voice, screaming out Diabolus' name. As suddenly as the vision had started, it had ended and left a cold shiver running down his spine. He knew that the Echidna had just seen everything he had, and that really troubled him. He had never encountered this before in his life but he would bet his Desert Eagle that he knew what this meant.

This kind of connection was only ever supposed to happen with one kind of person to a god, or so he had been told: One with whom they were reported to form some kind of historical bond with. He couldn't be sure about this, but this Echidna was important to the greater plans of things. The images must have been sent by the Great Creator, and they must have been sent for a reason. Maybe, just maybe it was supposed to be some kind of emotional connection.

Bionics found himself deep in his own thought again and shook it off. He flew outward and began to trace the pattern required to bring the spire down in the middle of the plain. Once this small ritual was complete, great golden comets flew down and formed the outline for the spire's physical form. Then came the great flash of light, and when it had cleared, the great shadow of the incomprehensible tower loomed over him. The transition was complete. He flapped his wings and began to soar in a circle around the Battle Spire to check that all systems were functioning at standby as needed. He thought about this shocking revelation. Was he really destined to become involved in some way with this Echidna? Emotionally, romantically even? Well, she was pleasing to the eye...

_Stop it!_ He needed to concentrate now. He completed the loop and sent the mental impulse to power up the Spire. It began to glow at the edges with the colours of Chaos Untainted, then the light faded way.

The Battle Spire was at full power, and was ready for him to ascend back to his throne at the very summit. Before he moved, he took one last, concerned look at the camp and the female Echidna, and then flew upwards as fast as he dared to go, up to his Throne of Observation. When at the top he landed in this seat of power and settled back to thinking about this revelation yet again. Whatever these images and feelings meant, she was quite important, and he would have to either seek her out or let her seek him out.

Of course, if she had shared those images, it must have confused her to a point, and she would want answers from him if they met. Well... she was going to try and find him now, Bionics realised, whether he liked it or not...

* * *

Back at the camp, Lien-Da lay on her fold-out, metal bed inside her tent stunned beyond words. She was trying to sleep, heavens knew she was trying to sleep, but it was just too much to think about that 'Purple Angel' and the immense tower. She usually thought with cold and ruthless calculation. She was quite a cold individual; she did not see life as particularly valuable, well none but her own life of course.

She had been certain of her desires, of her emotions, of her bitter and quite cruel determination to see the Dark Legion become the supreme Echidna faction with herself as Grandmaster. Now, that mental fortress of absolute certainty was slowly beginning to crack up and crumble. Of course she did care about the Echidnas as a species, and had put _her_ life and the lives of _her_ soldiers on the line for them, but she wanted to see the Dark Legion as dominant.

Damn it, she did have emotions! She wasn't that heartless, but her life had never really been a joyous one to say the least. She had been scheming her way through the Dark Legion for quite a while, going as far as assassination attempts, successful or otherwise. She had for a while held the title of Grandmaster, but then her great ancestor, Dimitri had returned and snatched the role back from under her nose.

She had now returned to playing second fiddle again. She held the rank of Kommissar, the second in command. Nevertheless, she did command respect, fear and authority within the Legion, but it seemed that her ancestor could command more than her. It was his capacity to treat the Dark Legion's soldiers as equals, while she showed them their true positions and placed herself above all the rest that made him somewhat more popular however. It was just so indignant; to be blamed for the recent failures of the legion and have Dimitri take away her chance to redeem herself.

Her concentration was shattered by a Legionnaire who had entered her tent.

"Yes Legionnaire?"

"Kommissar, the Grandmaster requests your presence instantly." Lien-Da sighed and pulled herself up out of the bed. "Alright, I'm going. Get back to your duties."

"At once Kommissar" the Legionnaire stood to attention and marched briskly out into the camp.

When the soldier was gone, she smartened herself up as best she could, and made her way back out into the night air. Now however, there was a slowly growing pale blue band of light appearing on the horizon. There was no need to mobilise. Nevertheless there was a certain buzz in the atmosphere, a sense of great foreboding due to this massive tower, which now was starting to show up in the faint sunlight.

Grandmaster Dimitri was standing, if you could apply normal bodily functions to him, near the edge of the cliff staring out at the tower. There was next to nothing organic left of his physical form. He was, essentially, a robotic head in a glass ball with several strange artificial tentacle-dreadlocks to allow for movement. While both his eyes were mechanical, his left one was extended from its socket and the lens was triangular. His mouth was free to move as normal however, and his teeth seemed unaffected. He turned to stare at his descendant as she approached.

"Ah, granddaughter, at last you have arrived." His face betrayed no hint of emotion towards her either way.

"Grandmaster" she replied curtly and without a hint of familial acknowledgement. They may be related, he may be her great-great-grandfather, but she was not pleased with him and would not show any amount of compassion just on that basis.

"Come now, can we not conduct ourselves in a more familial way?" Dimitri retorted, feigning emotional hurt.

"I'm afraid not, sir" was the answer he received in turn. He sighed wanly and shook his head. "Fair enough, Kommissar, we need to talk now. I do not think you need me to tell you what about."

"This strange tower, yes I know."

"Indeed, this tower, plus the equally mysterious flying stranger who summoned it here."

Lien-Da crossed her arms and stared at her ancestor with a bland look. "I was planning on going out to it to find out just what it is, and what its purpose is."

"I had gathered that" Dimitri said with a hint of contempt "but we cannot afford to waste more of our already meagre forces on a potential death trap."

"With respect, Grandmaster, this tower could be the key to bringing our Legion back up to strength. I... I had a vision when that figure looked at me."

Dimitri bodily expression as well as his right eye displayed open curiosity now "a vision? What sort of vision?"

The Dark Legion Kommissar's face formed a pained expression as she thought of an appropriate answer. "Well, strange images and sounds. Good things and bad things, war and peace, stuff like that. There was also a voice screaming out a name; 'Diabolus', apart from that I don't know what this all means."

"I'm afraid to say that I have no understanding of this vision either, we will have to wait for the answer to find us. Of course this does not change the fundamental outcome of your wish; you still cannot take more of our troops, or yourself for that matter, and go searching for this stranger when he could be plotting to destroy us all."

Lien-Da straightened up and unfolded her arms before pointing at the immense tower, which now reflected the pale orange of the rising sun. "If this entity, as powerful as we have seen it to be, wanted to destroy us I think it would have done it by now. It has the power to call up this immense tower and set it down at its place of choosing. If it can do that then it could easily destroy us all at a glance, but it hasn't. I think that it may want to help us out and Aurora knows we really need help right now. This is a crisis and it could be our only hope in this, so please, we must go out to the tower and try to make contact."

The two of them stopped and turned around to face the camp. All of the soldiers had now stopped and were now watching the argument as it had heated up. Dimitri looked back at them with a grim expression on his face. "This is a private conversation. All of you get back to work." And the regular bustling sound resumed as the Dark Legion went about its various duties.

The ancient Echidna's cybernetic head then turned on its tentacles and looked back at the tower, reflecting a much deeper shade of orange now. "I suppose... I suppose you are right, Lien-Da. Very well, I shall allow you to search out this 'Purple Angel' and seek his aid. I also allow you to take five soldiers with you, just five mind you. I will not compromise our safety by allowing anymore soldiers than we need to go on this mission."

"Thank you, Grandmaster" Lien-Da nodded sharply and then made her way back into camp. She had her wish. She could seek out this strange character and get some answers from him and, with a bit of luck, his help. She went into the heart of the camp and selected out five soldiers from amongst the ranks which lined up in front of her. Within 5 minutes they were all armed and rappelling down the cliff to try and reach the base of the tower through the thick forest of the valley.

* * *

Chapter 1 arrived to you sooner than I had anticipated, but I feel that posting the first few chapters without waiting will help move things along a bit. Point of reference left out from my last post. Bionics is English in terms of accent and way of speaking, and I don't mean cockney or northern (no offence meant to either party), I mean standard English or 'posh' English. I always think of the actor Ralph Fiennes as being Bionics' voice, but that's just me. Note number 2: When Lien-Da hears Bionics scream out "Diabolus" it is supposed to be in capitals and very drawn out over a period of several seconds with each vowel having at least ten of itself. However, for reasons unknown I cannot post the name in this way as instead only the exclamation mark is visible. Just to let you know that it's supposed to be much longer than what is posted.

Now for the 'worm on the hook' part of this, ready... Where will this chapter lead to? What do the images both Bionics and Lien-Da see actually mean? Where will it take them? Keep a whether eye out for the next chapter, where our two protagonists go 'Hunting'.


	3. Chapter 2: Hunting

Sonic and related characters are the copyright of Sega or Archie comics.

Bionics, Diamond Alpha and Creator's Diamond are my own creations.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Hunting**

1 ½ miles away, and about 4 ½ miles straight up, Bionics was standing up at a military planning table with several of his personal tacticians and captains, making out all the necessary preparations for full scale war. Their first order of business was to find out about the recent history of Mobius. They had been given a wealth of knowledge from the databanks of the Diamond Alpha, and with the finest processors in the Multiverse the data would be cherry picked and presented to him in seconds.

He turned to the leading tactician and said "what is the status of the download?" The tactician looked at him with its blank and featureless mask of a face "my Lord Bionics, the data is reaching us now."

"Excellent, put it up on the holographic screen." Almost a second later the room around them all darkened and the clear picture of Mobius appeared and rotated rapidly as though watching the timeline of the planet on fast-forward. The notes and pictures of the conflicts of the planet also appeared at the sides and linked by fine blue lines.

Bionics was quite shocked by what he saw. There were actually very few proper wars on the planet, fewer than there had ever been on old Earth, eight major ones in total. Each conflict however was very long and had exacted a bloody toll on the population. He could spend days musing over it all. The first Xorda attack was the first documented event, and a few others were scattered along the timeline, but towards the current history did the most conflict seem to rage.

There was the Great War between the Mobians and the Overlanders, who were slightly mutated descendants of the Human race, had lasted ten years and left thousands of corpses in its wake. This had set the stage for the coup d'état of the Warlord Julian Kintobor, who renamed himself Ivo Robotnik and subjugated most of Mobius for ten years afterwards.

This was the focal point of history in Mobius that was at the heart of nearly every single future conflict. There was the guerrilla war brought to Robotnik by a group of freedom fighters operating from an area known as Knothole within what was called the Great Forest. There was Operation: EndGame, which resulted in the death of Ivo Robotnik and a brief period of peace.

There had been the ultimate destruction the Knothole by the Robotnik of another dimension, nicknamed Dr 'Eggman', who had decided to remain on Mobius Prime to 'fill the gap' as it were. The rise of the demigod Enerjak (A violent and misguided soul who did not deserve such power in Bionics' eyes) and his defeat by the Republic of Acorn, the new ruling faction of the time and made up mostly of the old freedom fighters.

And there was this current war, where the Republic were fighting invading forces from yet another dimension and another planet called Moebius. It was often referred to by the Prime Mobians as 'Anti-Mobius' because of the massive contrast in the personalities of the people there. Where one Mobian might be a good person, a Moebian who was the exact twin of the Mobian counterpart was an evil person.

All these recent conflicts starting from Robotnik's coup had the same interesting figure fighting in them; the blue hedgehog that went by the name of Sonic. He was not only a freedom fighter, but also a famous figure and a hero in the eyes of most Mobians. He had the ability to run at speeds going beyond Mach 1, or supersonic speeds, had a just but cocky attitude, and could manipulate the energies of emeralds blessed with the powers of Chaos Indiscriminate to become immensely powerful, a demigod is his own right. Sonic the Hedgehog was perhaps the most important character in the recent history of Mobius and would affect it for many years to come.

However, none of this concerned him at the moment, none save one point. He could not stop staring at the picture of Sonic, or keep looking at the references to Moebius again and again. He was searching, in the logs and in his soul for something, this information had made him remember something from a very long time ago, and he wanted to find out anything on the matter. Soon however, he forced himself to stop and violently shake his head to stop his feverish search from consuming him and tearing his concentration from the main objective. He wanted, no he needed, to know who the soldiers he had seen on the cliff were. "The camp not far from here that I spotted, what faction does it belong to?"

"Processing, Lord Bionics... The soldiers are a separate faction of Mobian Echidnas, a technocratic dictatorship known as the Dark Legion. They have been at war with an opposing faction of the same species, the Brotherhood of Guardians, for centuries and seek to establish themselves as the supreme Echidna race. They possess advanced technology, including energy blasters, cybernetic enhancements and bionic augmentation. Recently they have attempted to defend the rest of the Echidna people from extinction due to a change in their leadership. They have been hunted to near extinction themselves in this war, and are at crisis point."

"I see, interesting" Bionics stroked his chin idly as he saw the data unfurl before him "once a faction bent on destruction, now seeking preservation and peace while on the brink of disaster for themselves. They truly are in need of a miracle; we may be able to provide that. Show me the current leader."

"As you wish my Lord, this is Grandmaster Dimitri" there was a brief pause, then an image of something that at first glance looked like a robot, but looking closer and delving into the data given revealed the shocking truth. It was actually the most mechanically altered mortal that the god had ever seen in his life, the personality remained intact, if tempered, but the body was missing, and the head that remained had not a shred of skin or flesh upon its outer surface. Only the enamel of the figure's teeth stood out against the gleaming plates and tinted lenses that made up the Dark Legion's Grandmaster. The head was suspended in a glass bowl, and attached to this bowl were several tentacles which permitted free movement.

"Creator have mercy! I've never seen such extensive mechanical replacement before. Anyway, this is the Grandmaster, are there any other high ranking figures?"

"Yes Lord Bionics, the second in command, Kommissar Lien-Da of the House of Dimitri" the image changed, and Bionics breathed in heavily. It was the Echidna he had met eyes with last night, the one with whom he was to form a bond with. Her expression in the image was cold and without compassion. An icy look if ever he saw one. However, even the coldest of hearts could be thawed with patience and as long as it was accompanied by a strong mind.

Bionics recomposed himself and looked at his captains. "I apologise, I lost myself for a moment there. Anyway, we know the hierarchy and now we have the background information on them as well as everything else. They have similar upgrades and ideas about technology to us and are in need of help. They may not all be in a liberal state of mind, but that can be addressed. I will make my way out there myself to enter negotiations with them. I will require two scout units to accompany me through the forest."

The captains and tacticians bowed and said in eerie unison "yes, Lord, with all due haste." Then they walked smartly out of the room. Bionics closed his eyes and concentrated on the main gates of the Spire's perimeter. He felt the change in environment and walked up to the gates in real life. The smell of grass, flowers and fresh air from beyond the walls filled his nostrils as he walked. _It is truly magnificent to be surrounded by all nature _he thought as he reached the scouts he would be taking with him.

The scouts stood to attention at his approach. They wore all over body armour, non-powered for stealth reasons, and the standard issue black and silver laser rifle. The armour and rifle cowling had an in-built camouflage system, whereby the colour camouflage of the armour could change depending on the environment. At the moment there was no camouflage and all the scouts' armour was matte grey and the massive eye visors were a semi-reflective black.

"Scout Team One at your service Lord Bionics" said the leader of the two.

"Very good, set camouflage to forest pattern and ready your rifles."

The scouts kneeled down, and then the armour they were wearing seem to have colours pass over it like cloud shadows. In seconds the grey had formed into the greens, browns and blacks of forest camouflage. Bionics' armour incorporated all the specialist elements of all his soldiers various armours, and as such he could camouflage his armour as well. He did this and then removed his cloak and weapons, save his pistol, which all disappeared to be put in his personal quarters. He placed an ammunition pouch on his armoured shin and put on his combat helmet.

The helmets of the scouts had no facial features and no area for the nose, which they did not need as they were machines. Bionics' helmet had an extension which ended in a grille where the mouth and nose would be. The scouts raised their laser rifles, charged them up and released the safeties. All of them; the scouts and their master stood ready in full combat dress under the still early morning sky.

Bionics clapped his hands together and said "magnificent, now we must depart. Remember, this is a mission to seek out and establish negotiations with this 'Dark Legion'. That means no firing unless absolutely necessary, and even then only on stun. Am I clear?"

"Yes my Lord" was the unison reply in mechanically synthesized voices. The scouts pressed a second button on their rifles and the red lights on the left side of the cowling became a shade of cyan.

"Right, that is us all sorted out" Bionics said as he marched towards the massive gates that led to outside world "let's go meet the neighbours."

* * *

Back down in the forest basin Lien-Da and her squad were moving carefully through the dense foliage, searching for any hint of life. They had been searching for roughly ten minutes and had turned up nothing. She breathed slowly, and as quietly as possible, as she stepped lightly across the earthy spring ground. In her right hand she was holding a sleek energy pistol. Well, she had to be cautious, and who knew what would be waiting out here besides this Purple Angel. How could she even be certain that it was here? _I know it's here, _she thought defiantly, _I just know. _She and her Legionnaires continued onwards through the forest, watching cautiously with their fingers on the triggers of their energy weapons.

One legionnaire spoke out in a hushed whisper and said "Kommissar, do we know exactly what we are meant to be cautious about?"

"We still don't know if this tower and its occupants are friendly towards us, Legionnaire" Lien-Da said back without taking her eyes off of the trees in front of her "so we need to be prepared for an ambush".

"Yes, ma'am" the Legionnaire said with a smart tone. Even the Kommissar had to admit to herself she did not know if the first contact would be friendly or not. The visions could just be some elaborate hoax or similar. They had to be cautious as possible, or else it could be disastrous.

Suddenly there was a slight change in the foreground far ahead and Lien-Da brought the squad to a quick halt. "Movement, up ahead. Take positions and wait for my signal." The five troopers moved to various areas throughout the foliage as quietly as possible and aimed their rifles in the indicated direction. They all trained their eyes carefully on the one small spot as the Kommissar knelt down as she aimed her pistol at the bushes from which the movement had emanated. There was an almost imperceptible rustle from those bushes.

"Steady... steady..." A thin bead of sweat trickled its way down Lien-Da's left temple as she looked carefully and in a controlled manner down the sleek pistol's iron sights. There was a terrible and drawn out silence, and she could really sense the tension around them all. Then there was a much greater rustle from the bush, a great movement, and then something stepped out of it and into the squad's clear line of sight.

This figure was different from the one she had seen before, but there were similarities. It was the shape of a hedgehog, but it was clad from head to foot in a suit of forest camouflaged combat armour, with a large black visor. It was completely void of normal facial features, such as the nose, and it was holding a sleek camouflaged rifle in its gauntleted hands. It looked straight at Lien-Da, and didn't move for a single second. _Well, it's not the one I'm looking for,_ she thought as she stood up, still aiming the pistol at it, _but if it's friendly maybe it can lead us to him. _The figure moved almost in response to her thoughts, as it slowly lowered the rifle, clicked a switch on the side causing the pale blue light on the side to blink out, and raised it above its head with both hands as a show of peaceful intent. Then it took one step forward.

Suddenly, there was a loud _crack_ as one of the energy rifles in the hands of the Kommissar's squad went off unexpectedly. The pale yellow, jagged bolt zipped through the bushes with a high whistling sound and clipped the soldier on its right shoulder. It recoiled from the blow and stood up straight again. There was no visible damage to the figure's armour. It resumed its normal grip on the rifle, flicking the switch to turn its power back on again and looked ready to raise it and fire back, but instead it paused before spinning around and running, almost diving back into the bushes behind it.

"No, damn it!" Lien-Da sprang forward and began to chase after it "you idiot, what did you fire for?"

The Legionnaires started running after their leader as the one who had fired apologised. "I'm sorry Kommissar, it was nerves. I swear it was just-"

"No time for that, we have to chase it down now. Come on!"

* * *

Bionics led Scout Team One through the forest as they searched for the camp of the Dark Legion. They were getting closer, his radar told him so. He knew that they may be met with some hostilities, but he was prepared to work around that as best as possible. They were after all in dire need of some help. And he would provide that if they were prepared to accept. It was imperative that he made it to them without already having tarnished their relationship.

They had teleported to the edge of the forest and had made their way through the dense greens, greys and browns laid before them. It had been quiet and militaristic so far, no activity had been spotted, and it was beginning to worry him. No-one was coming to meet them yet, perhaps he needed to just make his way there rather than search for any hint of someone trying to reach him. _No... _He thought to himself again as he followed in the wake of the path of his two scouts. _If they know I am here, and they obviously do, they will send someone. That Kommissar will want to find me._

His keen ears could pick up all the little snaps and rustles of the forest around as they made their way towards some dense bushes. In an instant the timid calm was shattered by an internal warning bleep on Bionics' eye and a dot revealed itself right in front of the bushes they were hiding behind. _Ha! There you are._ The blip became a figure which was illuminated in a pulsing orange outline. He could now see there were six figures. They were all taking up combat positions ready to fire should anything harmful come out of the thick foliage.

"_Scout two, make your way out into that clearing slowly and see if you can make friendly contact with them"_ he whispered to his scout calmly through a telepathic link.

A new green blip in the bottom left hand corner of his eye told him the scout had acknowledged the order. It stepped out of the bushes slowly and into the Dark Legion squad's clear line of fire. Bionics could almost taste the tension in the atmosphere of those Legionnaires. He could see they wore a strange form of overlapping metal plates as armour, but most of this was concealed beneath a billowing black set of robes with a cowl over their heads. Each one wore a dark blue face mask with empty looking red eyes which nevertheless were capable of somehow simulating expression.

The figure in the dead centre wore different attire to the others and therefore was the most visible. It was also the one of greatest importance to him; it was Kommissar Lien-Da. At last, he had found her, and vice versa, now Bionics hoped that this would run smooth. The Kommissar stood up, still firmly aiming a silver energy pistol at his scout. _"Scout, switch your rifle off and raise it above your head in a peaceful gesture. Try and make your way towards the female in the middle."_

The green light blipped once more and the scout did as ordered, slowly moving the switch lever which turned off the weapon's power supply. The scout then gripped the top of the rifle in both hands and held it high above its head. As it made to step forwards Bionics could not help but think, _this is it, we can finally make contact. We can finally-_

He was violently cut off; a terrible flash of yellow energy and a loud whistle penetrated the tense atmosphere as one of the Dark Legionnaires fired his rifle at the armoured scout. Bionics eyes went wide with surprise and he saw the scout switch its own rifle back on and prepare to return fire. "_NO!_" Bionics roared at the scout telepathically. "_Do not return fire, pull back now. Both of you pull back with me and retreat, now!" _Two green blips appeared though it took and extra second for the scout team to conform. Scout two ran back through the bushes to join with Scout one and Bionics as they retreated pell-mell back into the open forest. Behind then all, they could hear the shouts of the Kommissar as she chastised her unfortunate Legionnaire subordinate and ordered they follow the scout immediately.

The Machine god drew his custom Desert Eagle as they ran and could hear the sound of heavy breathing far behind them. This had not gone to plan; in fact it was a shambles. What had possessed that Legionnaire to fire? What could possibly cause that one particular soldier to pull his weapon's trigger? He realised it had probably been nerves. The tension combined with the somewhat intimidating look of his scout had most likely meant that that soldier had pulled the trigger out of a case of the jitters.

_No matter, what is done is done. I will not change it._ Of course as a Concilium god he _could_ change time if he asked for permission, but he often decided against it. He believed that people should be allowed to live the consequences of their decisions as much as possible, and that he should only interfere if it threatened the safety of the Multiverse or the Diamond Alpha. Obviously this was not one of those times.

Bionics had had enough of just running now. It took a bit more effort on his account, but while he was running he did his best to concentrate on an area well ahead of them in this forest. The effect of translocation was not instant, nor was the journey as smooth and painless as he would have hoped, but they were now well ahead of the pursuing Dark Legionnaires. He flattened his back against a tree and motioned to his scouts to wait there for a moment as they made to start up again.

"Scout Team One, I need you to continue back to the Spire immediately and present a full account of the events that took place to my personal captains. Tell them the situation is not one to mobilise over." The lead scout looked solidly at his master and asked perplexed "what will you do my Lord?"

"I will remain here and wait for the Dark Legion to arrive."

"But my Lord that would mean you may be captured, or even attacked by these soldiers."

"Exactly, I'm counting on them to capture me under the guise of this scout team's leader. Then they will take me to their camp and I can reveal myself to them and enter negotiations."

"Sir that is inadvisable at best..."

Bionics eyes flashed towards the scout leader with a suddenly irate look in his eyes. "Do you presume to question my authority, scout?"

"No my Lord" was the still bland and emotionless reply.

The sounds of the Dark Legion squad were getting closer to their position. Time was short. Bionics stood up straight and looked them both directly into the black unfeeling visors. "Go, now, and do your duty, both of you."

"Yes my Lord" Both of the scouts stood to attention, placed their right fists on their armoured chests where the heart would have been. They then turned and sprinted into the forest briefly before Bionics teleported them back to the Spire's perimeter. Now he turned slowly and faced in the direction that the sounds of running were coming from. It was very noticeable now. He could hear the sound of a female voice shouting "I think I can see one still there, keep going!"

He could tell her voice was somewhat deep by female standards, smooth and ever-so-slightly husky. He stood up straight, cocked his Desert Eagle and aimed in front of him in his mechanical hand. He had to be ready for what may happen. He calmly looked down the holographic sight on top of the pistol and waited...

* * *

Keep running, that was all Lien-Da could think to do right now, keep running. She could not afford to lose her one chance of contact, not after this. She would not allow herself or her men to screw up her chance to get the answers she wanted from these strange soldiers. She was panting as she and her squad desperately tried to chase down and track the small group. She had seen two others with that one soldier her blundering Legionnaire had shot.

She could barely see them anymore. They had disappeared from sight in front of them when they had been quite close. She had been certain they had lost them, and had felt a bitter wave of anguish prick at her heart. But she had seen the small flash of light that had suggested they had somehow teleported to that location. She had led her squad that way and she could now just hear voices in the distance.

She forced herself to keep going; half blinded by exhaustion and lack of breath she could see the three figures through some light shrubbery. She made out two figures start running and one remaining stationary. "I think I can see one still there, keep going!" She may yet get something out of this. She could capture that one and question it, interrogate it if necessary. She was not in the mood to feel merciful anymore.

She could see the soldier in front of her through the bushes, along with a new glint of silver. She burst through the shrubbery recklessly. As she focused on figure in front of her, energy pistol outstretched to the figure's head, she let out a little gasp of shock followed by silence. She found herself staring down the barrel of another pistol. The soldier aimed it at her forehead and she could see the polygonal rifling inside the main chamber.

It was of a sleek, unknown, archaic design but the underslung targeting laser and the strange holographic sight on top suggested more modern technology, despite this the rifling suggested a more conventional gunpowder weapon. The figure was holding it professionally, with no shaking and no reason to suggest he would not pull the trigger. The Dark Legionnaires burst from the shrubbery as well and, seeing their Kommissar in danger, raised their rifles and pointed them at various vital areas of the figures body. There was a terribly long pause.

The figure turned its head slightly to take in the scene around him, staring at the Legionnaires and then back at the Kommissar. Then he slowly clicked the pistol's safety to 'on'. He ejected the clip and the round in the chamber, lowered the pistol carefully and placed it back on his hip where it magnetised. The figure placed the single bullet back into the clip, put the clip in a pouch on its lower left leg, raised its hands above its head and stepped backwards to provide some room.

Lien-Da stood stunned for a moment, then leapt back into action. "Take him with us, cuff his hands together, and take his weapon." As one of the Legionnaires stepped forward the figure backed away even more and lowered its hands momentarily. The rifles were raised again. The figure pointed its right hand at the gun at its side and waved the index finger of its left hand at them all. The message was clear; _take me if you will, but the gun stays with me. _Lien-Da did not react for a moment but then said "fine, let him keep his pistol for now. But cuff him and take him back to camp now."

The Legionnaires did as told, and the soldier cooperated. His hands were bound behind his back and he was dutifully led back through the forest in the direction of the Dark Legion camp. Lien-Da smiled as they trekked onwards. At last, she was going to get some answers.

* * *

Bionics felt a moment of fleeting relief as he was taken back through the forest. He was going to taken to the very heart of this faction's camp, and then he could attempt to aid them as best he could. He was not in the best of positions to start proper negotiations, but he would be shortly. He felt a small smile cross his face under his armoured helmet. Everything was now going a bit more smoothly, and with helping the Dark Legion out of the way, his real mission would begin to come to fruition.

* * *

And there you have it, chapter 2 is done and dusted. Apologies if I missed out any important events in Bionics' little catalogue, but I only wanted to mention certain key things. Bionics does lose himself in thought a lot, doesn't he?

Anyway, please give some reviews of the work soon as I would like to see what you, dear readers, think about it. Look out for chapter 3, where we will see the beginnings of a 'Dark Alliance'.


	4. Chapter 3: Dark Alliance

Author's Disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are copyright of either Sega or Archie comics.

The term 'Magitek' is also the copyright and/or property of Archie comics.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Dark Alliance**

The journey back seemed to take much less time due to the calmer atmosphere. There was no fighting, no ambushes, nothing in the way of trying to get this one strange soldier back to the massive tower. Lien-Da was concerned about this, no rescue attempts, of any kind? Did this mean something? She would have the men at the camp remain vigilant in case of an attack at their heart.

This soldier was much different from the previous soldier she had seen in the clearing. It was still a hedgehog, but had only three distinct head quills each one pointing towards the centre of the head. The armour worn was much thicker yet appeared to have a strange, almost natural look, as though it had not been so much forged as shaped out of nothing. There was a diamond fashioned into the shape of upturned wings in the middle of the armour's chest piece, which glowed faintly in the seven colours of the Chaos Emeralds. The soldier had a large grille on the helmet for the mouth and nose, and a larger eye visor.

The figure's only weapon was the pistol which was still magnetised to its right hip. Despite her better judgement Lien-Da had let him keep it, after all it was unloaded, and it may help with any talks that may later occur. Despite this it seemed to have several other magnetic clamps for other weapons. Strangest of all, the figure's right arm was showing. It was a glistening chromed metal, a bionic replacement arm no doubt, she had seen such things before countless times within the Legion, but this too had a strangely natural and futuristic look to it. She would find out about all of this later.

Soon they found the cliff edge that the squad had rappelled down. The cables were still there, waiting for them to use to climb back up. There was the slight problem of there not being a rappel line for the captive, but that was easily rectified. The order was sent up for another rappel line and when it was tossed down the squad strapped their prisoner to it with a harness. There was a nervous atmosphere surrounding it, as though the squad was afraid it would pounce on them at any moment, but they dutifully removed its shackles to allow it to climb.

The figure grasped hold of the rappel line as it was raised and scaled the cliff edge like an expert. The Kommissar and the Legionnaires followed suit and they were all soon at the top inside the confines of the Dark Legion Camp. The mood was as Lien-Da had expected it to be; tense and wary of the prisoner. She reattached the handcuffs, led the captive to one of the tents in the camp and made him sit down.

He had not reacted to any stimulus or said a single word to anyone, and had the look of a machine, a robot. She looked straight at him and he looked back. "Now you're here I cannot trust you with a weapon. Give me your pistol, now!" The soldier looked at her for a long moment then it let her walk carefully over and take the strange pistol off of its thigh. She held it up it and examined it; it did not match any known design at all.

She laid it on a trestle table and made the soldier stand up. "Follow me" she said flatly. The soldier obeyed and stood, a little awkwardly due to still having his hands bound, and followed her with a strange air of dignity about him. He did not seem like any footslogger Lien-Da had ever encountered, he had a look and a feel of authority and he walked and moved like a general. He had to be more than just a soldier and she would get some answers from him, no matter what.

She and this soldier made their way out into the clearing where several soldiers had gathered together. Also Grandmaster Dimitri was there, waiting for the questioning. Lien-Da put the soldier in the centre of the clearing and the Dark Legionnaires formed a circle around him, the Kommissar and the Grandmaster.

Dimitri and Lien-Da stood to face directly in front of the prisoner while attempting to analyze anything about him from looks. There was nothing. Dimitri glided forward on his tentacles until he was about 2 feet away, and looked straight into the soldier's visor. There was another exceptionally long and silent pause.

"...Do you know who we are?" the Grandmaster said coldly. The soldier nodded, but said nothing. "Do you know about this planet?" Another nod, but this one took more time to appear, still no words from the captive. Dimitri's features seemed against all the odds to grow a little colder.

"Why have you come here? Who do you serve?" The soldier did not react, and still refused to say a word, Dimitri moved closer. "Speak" he said in a voice filling with quiet menace. The soldier looked around him and drew himself up.

"...I serve a higher purpose; I am here to bring peace." The words that the soldier spoke were harsh, synthesised and utterly devoid of life.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dimitri queried, but the soldier had lapsed back into silence.

"Speak up!" Lien-Da finally broke the tense monotony and stepped forward, voice raised and seething. "You refuse to answer us, and even when you do it is in riddles and means little, yet we hold you captive with no way of escape. Start giving us some answers or so help me I'll-" She was cut off with a start. Suddenly the left hand part of the soldiers visor had blinded the two of them with blue light. When they could stare at him again Lien-Da felt a sudden chill. Where the left eye should be behind the visor was now glowing blue, the same blue that she had seen on the Purple Angel last night. _Could it be him?_ She wondered.

The soldier looked around again, this time more slowly and with a more drawn out nature. It stared back at the Grandmaster and the Kommissar, and then broke his bonds and slowly reached up to head. As he did so the camouflage on his suit changed, like cloud shadow moving on fast forward, the forest patterns changed to a simple, deep matte purple. _It is the Purple Angel!_ The soldier's hands clasped the helmet and looked down. The armour covering the head spines seemed to fold away into the main face mask, which was removed with some reverence.

The figure raised his head, shook out his spines and faced the Dark Legion command yet again. The figure before them was a hedgehog in his mid thirties; his fur colour was the same shade of purple as his armour. He would have had a handsome face, and to a point still did, but the effect was spoiled by his artificial left eye, which had smooth chrome metal just surrounding the socket. The eye itself was a deep blue LCD screen with a simulated cyan iris. Only now did Lien-Da really notice how tall he was. Taller than nearly any hedgehog she knew of, he roughly stood at an impressive 4 feet high.

He not only exuded an air of power and authority now, he quite literally seemed to thrust the concept upon one. As she looked into his eyes she felt again that strange tingling sensation in her soul which she couldn't quite place. When the hedgehog spoke now, it was not with mechanical overtones, but with a rich, cultured and proper accent she couldn't quite place, it could have been a Mercian accent.

"I apologise to you all for the deception, but it seemed the only way to get to your camp in what little time I had." The Dark Legion as a whole seemed stunned and lost for words, for now they remained silent and unresponsive. Aware of this the hedgehog continued "I have come here to aid you all. My name is Bionics." Silence, lifeless and all consuming, lasted for five seconds before the spell was finally broken by Lien-Da.

* * *

"Who do you work for?" the question from the Dark Legion Kommissar had already been asked, but Bionics knew full well that he could not give a straight answer. He was sworn to a degree of secrecy, and riddles would no longer suffice. He finally gave the only answer he could as he removed the broken hand cuffs from his wrists. "I cannot tell you, other than what I have already done so. I serve a higher purpose."

"Like a god, you mean?" was the response. Curiosity was not always a killer, but it was called so by people who found it unbearably annoying and wanted the curious person to quit while ahead. He could not explain it now, or possibly even ever if he was not lucky, but maybe later with the Creator's permission.

"Yes and no."

"What does that mean?"

"It means yes and no. More than this I am forbidden to say now." There was an irate look upon Lien-Da's face, but she seemed to know to back down now. Grandmaster Dimitri recomposed himself and moved forward again. "You have come here to help us, specifically us, why?"

Bionics looked at him with an eerily deadpan look on his face. "You are in a crisis and need support. I need someone who knows the lands of this world, as well as the tactics and politics of the many nations. We would both benefit well from an alliance." Some of the Legionnaires around the camp looked around at each other, they knew they needed help, but they were reluctant to receive aid from a foreigner and a different species. "I know you are distrustful of me" said Bionics, sensing the atmosphere created around him "but I'm offering you a chance that you know you cannot afford to reject. I'm not asking much of you, and giving you so much in return. I offer shelter, technology, support and time to recuperate."

"What? You want to give us all this just like that?" Dimitri sounded dumbfounded at the prospect.

"Yes, you were the closest faction to me to make contact. You have technologies which are compatible to my own, and you are the ones in need of an angel as it were." _Plus, the fact that your Kommissar is important to all this, and apparently to me..._ Bionics added in his head. Lien-Da stepped out and stared Bionics squarely in the eye. "You set up your tower in the canyon..."

"Ah yes, that is my Spire, my Battle Spire, It is my fortress on this planet while I need to do what I have been tasked with."

"Just how big is it? We've never seen anything quite like it."

"The Spire itself is one hundred yards in diameter, and five miles high." The breath seemed to go out of several of the Dark legion. No-one had ever even built anything that tall in history, let alone conjured it out of thin air. Bionics continued, slightly enjoying the awe struck atmosphere around him. "It has a perimeter wall with a diameter of half a mile and along the wall are 16 Flak Towers which serve to keep the enemy away from the Spire itself. The Spire is equipped with an energy shielding system, cloaking systems, defensive turrets and gun platforms to deal with all threats. My personal military forces take up residence either inside the Spire, in the grounds within the perimeter walls, or in massive subterranean hangars."

After watching their still awe-struck faces for a moment Bionics added "I think I can leave this sort of detail for later. Right now I simply need for you to trust me, I must also ask you to come with me back to my Spire, you will be safer in there from any attacks." This appeared to send a small spark of fear and a bigger spark of distrust running through Lien-Da's head at this point.

"Why should we trust you on that basis? How do we know that you won't slaughter us upon reaching your 'Spire'? We barely know you and you have no evidence on which we are to trust you wholeheartedly. You have power beyond anyone on this planet if you can do all that we have seen _and_ more. You could betray us and massacre us at any given moment!"

"Well, it is true that I could wipe you all out right now..." Bionics said with a knowing smile. He then reached his right hand behind him and opened his palm. Out of the tent he had been sat down in his pistol flew through the flaps. As it reached him and he gripped it Lien-Da was already in motion long before the other Legionnaires had even reacted. Bionics flipped the magazine out of its pouch and loaded it into the gun as he dodged Lien-Da's charge. The Legionnaires surrounding them raised their rifles but didn't dare fire.

Lien-Da unhooked her bullwhip from her belt and cracked the air with it. Bionics cocked the pistol and jumped at the Kommissar as she spun the end of the whip around his waist. She instinctively pulled on the whip's handle. He flew towards her and they ended up standing, pressed against each other, Bionics holding the gun to her forehead. She didn't react, she just breathed heavily. Bionics looked right into her eyes, paused, and then smiled again. This time however, it was a smile of something like compassion. "... But I am not going to do that, I give you my word on it." He lowered the gun and holstered it in one deft movement.

The whip fell around his ankles and he stepped out of them slowly. He realised that the rifles of the Legionnaires were still raised at him. Some would see his method handling situations such as this as quirky, or for a more realistic word suicidal, but then he had been around for 12,000 years, which can lead to the development of severe eccentricities. He raised his hands and looked first at the surrounding army, then back at Lien-Da with a serious expression crossing his features.

Lien-Da knew what he seemed to be getting at and gestured to the Dark Legion to stand down. Bionics seemed to relax as the rifles were lowered in unison. "Thank you, sorry for that, but I have explained myself a small amount. I will aid you in this, but you must follow me back to my Spire, I assure you nothing of mine will harm you there. It is perhaps now the safest place on this planet Mobius."

The silence of consideration was thick in the air. It seemed to want to suck all sound from the area and leave nothing but soul bending quiet. It was removed slowly this time, like a silk veil being removed to reveal a priceless jewel, as the entire legion seemed to begin breathing again. It was the Grandmaster who now made the next move, having observed all that had gone on in silence, he would have his say. "Bionics, you are a stranger to us with strange behaviour, but you do seem to be interested in protecting us, and because you have given us your word, I am inclined to trust you. Do not betray that trust or you will suffer for it."

Bionics wondered whether or not Dimitri could really back that threat up, but the look in his eyes, mechanical or not, told him that the Grandmaster did mean it. He turned to Dimitri and, as a show of faith, bowed his head slightly for him. "Do not worry Grandmaster; I am never one to break my word on anything. Now it is up to you to start preparing for-" He stopped, his expression became one of concentration. As the Dark Legion watched him, his ears seemed to prick up. He looked up at the sky and scanned it with his artificial eye, searching and searching, and then he saw them. Missiles, dozens of them, were flying in a cluster towards the Spire. Bionics was not overall concerned by this, because he knew the surrounding shields would be able to hold up against that kind of barrage, but then he saw yet more missiles headed to the same spot the Dark Legion's camp was. A chill surge of adrenaline ran rampant through his body. He cursed himself inside, he had not been cautious enough! He hadn't taken into account the fact that choosing that spot while advantageous for him would compromise the Dark Legion's location. Then he realised he _had_ considered it back in his planning room, but had moved on from that to discuss the need to look at the planet's history. Back then he hadn't known what they were but that they were in a dangerous and exposed position because of him. How could he be so stupid, so thoughtless?

"What's wrong?" Lien-Da asked, staring uneasily at Bionics as he regained his track of time and looked at her with fear in his good eye. "We have to get out of here now. Missiles are headed in this direction; they will wipe you all out. You must get off of this cliff and to my Spire right now!" There was a spark of fearful muttering and talking amongst the Legion. Lien-Da herself felt fear course through her mind and body like a knife. "How, they could hit any minute, and we need time to move all this..."

"Look!" cried out one of the Legionnaires, pointing to the rapidly approaching missiles. Now there a sudden desire to break ranks and flee, but each Legionnaire knew that he must not run without the order of either the Kommissar or the Grandmaster. Bionics knew they would never have enough time to get everything out of the camp in time unless they had his intervention. So he made his decision.

Before anyone their present could ask him on what to do, he had closed his eyes, raised his hands to the sky and visibly gritted his teeth together in painful concentration. Arcane and technological symbols hovered around his hands as he performed what some referred to as 'magitek'. At first it seemed as if nothing had happened, but then the air around the now very close by missiles suddenly distorted and rippled violently. The missiles jolted in the air before coming to a complete stop. Their rocket boosters still struggled to release them and hit their target. Bionics let out a low growl as he pushed harder to stabilise the missiles, which stuttered in mid-air for a few more seconds and then came to a complete stop.

Everyone of the Dark Legion who had watched this happen turned and faced him at a loss for words. In the distance came the faint rumble of the other missiles hitting the shields of the Spire in almost perfect synchronisation. He could even see that the so far well composed Lien-Da had actually let her jaw drop. Bionics grunted with the effort of keeping his concentration where it needed to be.

"I can only hold this for so long, get everything set up to go and get down the cliff, please go now!" Lien-Da paused, then nodded solemnly and turned to Dimitri who gave the order. All in all it took roughly ten minutes for the whole camp to be ready, a lot quicker than he had anticipated. Soon the supplies and then the troops had rappelled down the cliff edge and were waiting to move. By the time the last few Legionnaires and the Kommissar were preparing to move out, Bionics' hands were shaking with sheer effort and the missiles were getting closer. Lien-Da seemed to give the machine god one last look before she followed the rest of her Legion to the forest basin.

A minute or so after they had gone Bionics knew that he could not hold on any longer and with a great cry of shock and pain released the missiles and fell to his hands and knees. The effort of holding the missiles in place had drained his power and shields. He wondered as he looked up to see the missiles headed straight at him, would his shields recharge enough, and in enough time, to withstand the blast? "Oh hell..." was all he could manage to say before the missiles impacted all around him and disintegrated most the clearing.

* * *

There should have been shock, noticeable shock, when all that had just happened did happen. Instead the events went past Lien-Da so fast that she didn't have any time to register psychological shock. She had aided in the deconstruction of the camp and had been the last to rappel down the cliff, catching one last look at Bionics' pained expression as he fought to keep the relentless missiles from reaching their targets for another minute or so.

She jumped on one of the hovercraft transports with the other Legionnaires and they made their way through the forest yet again as she made the journey in the direction of the Battle Spire. They had made it a good way into the brush when they heard the missiles detonate and looked back to see the massive blossoms of fire and smoke coming from what had once been a flat and stable clearing.

Lien-Da couldn't see Bionics making any way back along the path they were travelling. A quick glance up at the sky however revealed all. Bionics seemed to be pirouetting and spinning unconscious as he was propelled though the air to a point well in front of the convoy. Smoke was pouring from his armour as he flew and she looked on, but then he disappeared into the tree line. She had to get to him and see if he was alive or not, otherwise all the effort he had put into helping them would be for nothing, and the connection that seemed to link them would be broken.

"All pilots, all pilots, speed up and locate Bionics' crash site right now!" Lien-Da shouted over the noise of the hovercraft's engines furiously working. Above the din, she was just able to make out the words "Yes Kommissar". As they sped up to overtake the other hovercraft, she began to wonder why she did feel so concerned for an outsider to the Legion, and why had she so quickly embraced the idea of using his name so readily? Was it his persuasion, her sympathy, or something else?

After cutting through the forest for another minute, they came upon Bionics, lying on the ground face up, arms and legs splayed out, his armour smoking gently with blackened marks all over it. When Lien-Da reached him, she saw that his artificial eye was offline and blank. She knelt down and checked the pulse on his neck; the only place she could check if he was alive. There was a strong pulse there, he was alive. As she discovered this his eye suddenly switched on and its background glowed the dark blue that his eye had had before, but with no pupil.

As she watched fascinated, she waited as Bionics sat up and after ten more seconds the fake cyan iris appeared on the eye as well. Bionics looked around him, saw Lien-Da, smiled and then slumped back to the ground before letting out a groan of pain. "Well, it's been a while since I did that" he said as he stood up and checked everything of his was still with him. He then looked back at Lien-Da with a look of concern and said "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay, and so is the rest of the legion, we're just making our way to your Spire now."

"Good, I will follow you and make sure you reach the Spire safely." Bionics dusted off his armour and then made his way to where the convoy of hovercrafts had stopped.

* * *

As soon as the Kommissar had jumped back into the passenger seat of the second craft Bionics arched his back, rolled his shoulders and entered the stance of those about to perform a running lap of an Olympic arena. The hovercraft set off with great speed and Bionics broke into an equally fast run as he followed the convoy through the thick forest floor.

At the same time, though it would seem impossible to some, he was able to keep watch all around him and guard the convoy's flank while at a high speed run. Many of the Legionnaires were able to sit and watch him as he maintained his constant speed despite wearing heavy looking armour, all without so much as running out of breath. They carried onwards and onwards for several more minutes before the first lights of the edge of the forest began to cut through the thinning number of trees. Bionics applied more strength to himself and boosted ahead for a few seconds, overtaking the convoy, and then leaping out into the sunlight of the great expanse of valley.

He went into a crouch with his Gatling arm laser revolving and whirring madly as he scanned for any signs of targets or more missiles. There were none, and he relaxed, lowered and deactivated his arm's weapon as the convoy of Dark Legion hovercrafts broke the tree line behind him. He heard the sound of a pair of boots hitting the grassy ground behind him, and then the sounds of approaching footsteps as Lien-Da came up to his side and stared at the Spire with him.

"Strange, from here it seems even more majestic than before" she said in a casual tone.

"Yes, I suppose so" Bionics replied with a faint smile of approval "But the best view is from the very top on a cloudless day, believe me." Lien-Da gave him an irate look of both curiosity and exasperation. "Blast it all, I just don't get you, earlier you talk and act in a controlled military manner, and then pull that stunt with your gun, then you save us from those blasted missiles and now you speak in a light hearted and casual demeanour. How can you do that being a god?"

"Do you mean why don't I always speak in an urbane, philosophical, or cryptic fashion like you believe gods should?" Bionics' smile had broadened into a wide grin. "Soon enough you will learn that most gods in the Multiverse, including myself, have a tendency of suffering... not mood swings as such but little shifts in our behaviour or personality to suit our emotions or the current situation. Gods are just like mortals but with greater power and more sensitive emotions. I do hope you will get used to it soon."

"So do I, for all our sakes" Lien-Da said as she turned back to look at the Spire one last time. Bionics then said "the Spire's defences can protect you from here on in. I must get back there at once and prepare for your arrival." With that he walked a few steps then vanished in a flash of cyan coloured light.

* * *

Lien-Da stared fixedly at the spot he had been for a moment, before sprinting back to the waiting hovercrafts. She jumped up into the passenger seat of the hovercraft she had occupied beforehand, and they all glided gracefully towards the Battle Spire's outer most perimeter.

* * *

Author's notes: So, both our protagonists have met each other at last, here we see a much more audacious side to Bionics (or indeed suicidal). This chapter actually nearly caught me in the throes of writer's block, but perseverance and the thought of eventual review pulled me through. Expect a much longer wait as I perfect my next laptop chapter (Chapter 17). Until then, keep 'em peeled for the next chapter to post here, 'Recuperation'.


	5. Chapter 4: Recuperation

Writer's Disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are copyright of either Sega or Archie comics. Bionics, Creator's Diamond and Diamond Alpha are my own ideas.

Pre-story notes: Thanks go to 'brave kid' for the first review of my fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Recuperation**

As Bionics had promised, the remainder of the trip to the Spire was uneventful, perhaps the first truly peaceful moment of the day on which the Dark Legion could reflect on its sudden and positive change of fortune, and on whether it all might be too good to be true. As they were moving around the massive walls of the Spire's perimeter Lien-Da began to really question this new figure. She like the entire Legion had been swept up in the whirlwind of his arrival, the attack and his speech. It had meant that they had been left with little time to question Bionics or what he had promised them.

Just what did he ultimately want with them? What did he want with Mobius? And who was he, really, what was his story? She wondered if he would ever even tell her those sorts of things about himself. Despite this musing, one thing remained clear in Lien-Da's mind; Bionics could still betray them, and was still not quite worthy of the Dark Legion's trust, or at least her trust. She would have to be wary of him, or else the Legion could be utterly destroyed.

Soon the Legion was within sight of the main gates. They heard a surprisingly quiet clack and then the gates slid apart almost soundlessly as though they were exceptionally well oiled.

As the hovercraft made their way inside the wall the sight of the Spire's interior added yet another breathtaking sight to add to Lien-Da's repertoire of the day. Standing at ease in perfect formations that curved to the shape of the circular wall were hundreds, if not thousands of black power armoured soldiers. All were helmeted, all were carrying the same rifles Bionics' scouting party had used, all were exactly the same height as one another, and all of them were unrelentingly silent.

Bionics appeared in front of the parked hovercraft in his flash of cyan light again. Upon his arrival, all the soldiers stood to attention, held their rifles stock to the ground in their left hands while planting their right fists over their hearts. All this was done in complete unison; in one single massive movement. The god of machines raised his hand to his army, and they stood back at ease, still in one fluid motion.

He turned back and faced the Dark Legion as they disembarked from their transports and held open his arms to greet them. "Welcome to my Spire; my outpost, my fortress, my home from home." He turned to face the countless soldiers behind him. "These are my warriors, every one of them is mechanical, but is artificially intelligent and unquestionably loyal to me. The armour and weapons they use are beyond the highest mortal grade. Each warrior can withstand supernatural levels of punishments, each is worth at least twenty normal soldiers, and there are ten thousand of them. A magnificent ground force all in all."

Bionics seemed to enjoy boasting this, or at least that was Lien-Da's impression of him. Was he doing all this just to impress them, or was he saying to them 'here is what I'm capable of, do not cross me'? Perhaps he was saying that, but then again perhaps not. It was maddening, infuriating that she could not understand him, his motives, anything about this... this deity.

Bionics had seemed to finish his long winded speech by the time Lien-Da had found herself paying attention to the situation again. As clarity returned to her she caught him saying, "Now, we have to think about where to house you. I am pleased to say that my men have made the necessary alterations to the Spire for it to house the entire Legion. Your hovercraft can be stored in the underground motor pool if you wish, or we can set up some tarpaulins if you would prefer them out here..." he indicated the space all around the inside of the wall. "Do feel free to choose."

Dimitri stepped forward without consulting Lien-Da, much to her chagrin, and in his calm, but always authoritative tones said "we will have them underground, it will appear that we are not here for a while, and that advantage may be of use to us." Bionics nodded assertively and turned to his soldiers. "Make your way to the subterranean levels at once and make room for Dark Legion. They are our guests and allies from this moment on." The soldiers stood to attention, shouldered their weapons, made 90 degree turns in either direction and marched towards two massive openings with cargo lifts at various areas on the outskirts of them.

As this happened, Bionics indicated for the Dark Legion to follow him in the direction of the Spire. Both Dimitri and Lien-Da walked alongside Bionics with the rest of the Legion behind them. As they moved right up to the side of the massive tower, it seemed to become all the more impossible to look up at the immense height of it without suffering a headache. The Kommissar could however make out what appeared to be massive automated turrets jutting out of the sides of the Spire.

When they were at the very sides they saw that all around the base of it at regular intervals were large semicircles made of what appeared to be white metal and glass, but if it was glass then it was too perfect, too clear and unmarked. These were lifts, and it was obvious that they were the only way up or down the 5 mile high construct with any degree of safety or speed.

The doors to the lift directly in front slid open without even a whisper. Bionics stepped majestically into the tube and beckoned for Lien-Da and Dimitri to follow. After a heartbeat the two of them reacted and joined their host in the lift. The glass doors closed on each other and Lien-Da saw, only just, that the two halves sealed themselves so perfectly that there was no visible gap between them. Perhaps the doors had joined together...

* * *

Bionics put his hands behind his back underneath his cloak and against all possibilities stood up even straighter. "I would brace yourselves" he said calmly.

"Why, what's going to happen?" Lien-Da gave him an accusing stare.

He smiled and looked back at her "Nothing bad I promise, but every time a newcomer has gone up in one of these things the speed has been a tad disconcerting". Sure enough as soon as the lift started it was travelling at incredible speed, and although nothing happened to affect the environment in the confined space, Lien-Da did stumble out of sheer reaction before recomposing herself with an indignant air about her.

Bionics retreated into his head as the journey in the lift continued. His heart and his soul were on fire with the passion he had gained from presenting his Spire and its troops. Then, out of nowhere, he felt a great bruise coloured ribbon of guilt flit across his emotions for over doing it. He now felt a bit foolish for showing up the Legion with his military. And why had he done all that anyway? A horrible thought went skipping across his mind that he may have been trying to court the Kommissar. Could that be right? Could he be trying to show off to impress a lady? Was he being that much like a teenager in his attempts to get to grips with the possibilities of romance just because it had been foretold in a vision?

He shuddered mentally at such social immaturity. _Just deal with the serious matters at hand!_ He thought with desperation, but no matter how much he tried to do just that, he just could not manage it. His emotions were rampant in his head. Now fire spreading through his head as well, but this fire was different from the previous one, it was the fire of doubt and confusion. Was this supposed to be some kind of test from the Creator Himself? Why did He not suppress Bionics' emotions on this matter? _Because it was His will_, Bionics told himself.

The truth that every god on the Diamond Alpha knew in their hearts had ages ago been turned into a simple mantra that they all used to explain the mysterious things that even they were not privy to. _Because it is His will, it is not my will, it is His will. His will be done. _Bionics closed his eyes as he repeated the mantra to himself once, and then reopened his eyes to see the Dark Legion's leaders watching the ground surge further and further away from them. He smiled and relaxed himself a bit. His mind felt clearer, and he felt suddenly contented.

They finally reached the very top, the lift travelled beyond its semicircular crevice until only the tip of its floor was still attached to the Spire itself. The metal wall that had been attached to the side facing the indent now split apart to reveal a new pair of sliding doors. These opened and the sight of a large open surface greeted them beyond. The three of them stepped out onto the very top of the Battle Spire.

It was, to say it in one word, immense. A 100 yard span of spotless, flawless marble floor greeted the pair of newcomers. A slight wall, barely a foot high, formed a circumference around the very edge. Four large blades, like scythes and fashioned in the shape of upturned wings, grew from the sides just below the top at 90 degree angles from one another, and in the very centre of it all, set upon a circular set of wide steps about a yard high, was a magnificent throne. This was also made of marble, and had feathers carved into the arm rests and edges of it. Bionics saw Lien-Da show a little huff of smugness as she spotted the small quilted purple cushion upon which he usually sat. Obviously sitting on bare marble could be cold and uncomfortable, could it not?

He didn't say a word to them just yet. He simply walked up the steps to his throne, turned around, sat down upon it and placed his arms almost delicately on the arm rests. "Now, we can discuss the more serious affairs concerning what I can do for you and vice versa."

"Indeed" Dimitri seemed to glide forward on his tentacles as he approached the base of the steps. "You said you wanted us because we have knowledge of the planets topography, but from what you have demonstrated you do not need us for that."

"That is not quite what I said" Bionics replied as he leant back in his seat of power. "What I said was that I needed you for, as you put it, 'topography' but also for politics. I only receive a general idea of what drives a faction in any given circumstance. So with your help on the matter understanding, say, the Republic of Acorn's political drive and machinations will become a lot clearer to me. The same thing applies to all the other groups out there; you will help me understand them in terms of politics."

"I see" Dimitri nodded, and his head bobbed on his tentacles. Lien-Da still felt distrustful but despite herself, she also walked up to the stairs and planted her right boot on the lower most step. She glared calculatingly at the god and said, slowly "and what about our politics? Will you help us with what we ultimately want?"

"That depends on what _you_ want" Bionics said, he had stopped smiling, but neither was he angry or offended, he was now merely deadpan. "If you wanted to strengthen yourselves for the sake of actually bettering this planet, then I would help you completely. If, however, you wanted to strengthen yourselves just so that you could waste that strength on pointless and bloody conflict, then I would either not help you at all, or I would help you on a limited basis or even restrict what I allow you to do."

Lien-Da suddenly stiffened and stood up straighter; Bionics suspected that she had been waiting for him to say something wrong. "I'm sorry? What _you_ will allow us to do? How dare you begin to assume that just because we accepted your help you can now decide to boss us around?" Her suddenly angry glare was met with Bionics' calm and suddenly cold features. He leaned forward to stare Lien-Da down. He raised his voice as he next spoke.

"I do not for one moment, Kommissar, assume that I have the right to 'boss you around'. You must make your own choices of course, and I never impose my will on others. I do impose the will of my master, the Great Creator of All Things Holy, and I only do it by force in the direst of circumstances when negotiation is not enough. I will not stop you from chasing your own political agenda to a point, but if that agenda conflicts with my duties on this planet, and you will not back down, then I certainly won't. I will be forced to fight you, and if you still won't back down then I will terminate you; all of you. Do I make my position on this matter clear?"

Bionics almost felt sick. He had never enjoyed talking as he just had to anyone he had met in all his years. He knew it was sometimes necessary, but that never cushioned the blow. It was agonising to have to say what he just had to them, and when he saw that the Dark Legion Kommissar had tears of rage and hatred suddenly welling up in her eyes, it poured salt into his already crippling mental wound. His bland facial facade cracked, and his features shifted to a look of profuse apology and sympathy. This did not cut it with Lien-Da though when she spoke next her voice was almost tremulous with constricted emotion.

* * *

"So... You'd just destroy us if we get in your way, huh?" Lien-Da practically spat the last word. "You promise us protection and strength, and then tell us you would kill us all? Kill us for not following your view of the world? Is that what you're saying?" She wanted to cry, and tears were welling up, but she just managed to hold most of it back. She felt betrayed; she felt she should be used to betrayal.

Her brother had betrayed her long ago and Dimitri had betrayed her in almost the same way, stealing her position as Grandmaster from her as her brother had done. All through her life there had been anger, hatred, assassinations made and organised by her, back stabbing and the desire; the sheer desire of hers for power. She had revelled in having such power as Grandmaster of the Legion, but even then she had come to expect betrayal and anger to pounce on her again and again.

Now this god, this living god, had pledged to help them, and for the briefest of times she had almost tasted the joy and the hope of having an ally to rely on. Now he had said he would slaughter them if they put a foot wrong. She had expected it to happen anyway, but she had really allowed herself... allowed herself to hope that... that he might...

Her mind almost shut down from a searing deluge of anguish, and she could not hold back any longer. The tears she had fought desperately to hold back now flowed freely, staining her cheeks as they fell. She dropped to her knees at the base of the steps and curled her hands into fists of bitterness. She trembled, and stared at nothing for a painfully long moment.

Then she heard a hiss, then a tap, then finally slow footsteps, and saw Bionics' feet come into view. He bent down to stare sadly into her blurred, teary eyes and then he reached for her left hand. She tried slightly to pull it back for a moment, but then she slowly uncurled her left hand and let Bionics' hold it in his now un-gauntleted left palm. He gently clasped onto her hand and helped to pull her up onto her feet before placing his artificial hand on her right shoulder.

They now stood intimately close to each other, with both their left hands gripping one another, their fingers suddenly interlocking. Bionics smiled warmly and tilted his head to one side as he stared into Lien-Da's eyes. When he spoke, his voice was warm, gentle, soft and full of compassion.

"Of course that's not what I'm saying, I would never want to hurt you, and I would never forgive myself if I did. I only want to help you, to protect you, to keep you safe. I am really sorry for what I said, really I am, but I do have a duty that must be fulfilled. I cannot turn my back on my master. All I want right now is to make sure you do not come to any harm, and you won't while you're here, I swear it."

Lien-Da felt too shocked from before to want to argue, she felt suddenly tired, but also strangely calmed. He was suddenly being considerate, sympathetic, as though he understood everything she felt. At once all that anguish, all that pain, all those negative feelings and emotions she had spent years bottling up. It was as if as she stared into his eyes, organic or artificial, she felt those emotions washed away if only for a short span of time.

She couldn't explain it. She felt like she should still feel hatred towards him, like she should break free of his grip and fight him, but she just couldn't. She felt something about him, something _towards_ him, something different. He was hard to predict, he was stubborn, and he was eccentric, but he was also kind and genuinely wanted to assist them. He didn't just seem to want to help, he did want to help, and she really felt it was real now.

She nodded gratefully back at him, wiped the tears from her face with her left hand and stepped elegantly away from him. Bionics lowered his hands and there was a moment of peaceful silence. The moment was broken by Dimitri, who had watched all that had transpired in total silence, but now moved to regain the pair's attention. He said "Thank you for doing that. I may seem heartless to you, but I do appreciate what you've done."

* * *

"Thank you as well... friend" Bionics replied quietly. He was genuinely grateful for the cyborg Echidna's patience.

"Friend and ally" was Dimitri's affirmative reply. Bionics knew it was clichéd, but it suited the moment. He then made his way back up to his throne, stood just in front of it. He closed his eyes for a moment and slightly raised his hands. There was a slight blurring around him, and then his cloak returned to his back, his gauntlet returned to his hand, and all his other weapons, his katana hilts and sheathed sword, returned to their respective positions about his person.

"Now, with your permission, I am going to attend to one of my more pressing desires."

"And what is that, pray?" Dimitri asked inquisitively. Bionics smiled and turned to fully face him. "I'm going to upgrade you, both of you, if that's okay with you."

"Upgrade us, what's that supposed to mean?" Lien-Da finally spoke out for the first time after her and Bionics' moment.

"First things first," Bionics answered, an almost audacious smile touching his lips "I'm going to build Dimitri a new body." The words did not take long to sink in. Dimitri himself leaned forward almost at once, as if he hadn't heard the words correctly. "I'm sorry; you are going to build me a new body?"

"Yes, I am, if you would follow me?" Bionics indicated to the now returned lift. The god, the leader and the second in command all made their way back into the lift. The journey to their next destination took them down four fifths down the Spire, and when they emerged, it was within the interior in what appeared to be a massive armoury.

Rack upon rack of sleek laser rifles lined many sections of the walls. Other, just as sleek looking weapons such as missile launchers, sniper rifles, pistols and other more exotic and unknown contraptions were also dotted around the massive space in more racks or on tables. From here, they could see many of Bionics' armourers. Robots of silver metal completely void of physical features save the black eye visors, and wearing simple purple robes tied at the waist by utility belts. They were working at massive machines which were filled with the strange glow of many veins of energy pulsing inside them.

These machines, at certain moments, would create a ball of energy at their core, which would then dissipate and become a suit of powered body armour. In and around the armoury were the members of the Dark Legion. The first few were carefully measured by the armourers, were given a suit of the newly forged armour which fitted them, and they put it on. After this they were bustled to the weapon racks, and were presented the weapon which best suited to their skills, usually just a laser rifle and sidearm.

A slightly more ornate looking armourer with golden detailing on his metal body sidled up to Bionics. "My Lord, the rearmament of the Dark Legion has begun in earnest. They are being presented with all of our best in superior protection and weaponry. They are receiving armour with built in energy shields, something even our own soldiers lack. Also, we have taken the liberty of personally upgrading all of the Legion's implants and other cybernetics to maximum quality. The full task will be completed in fifteen minutes. They will be a magnificent force to behold, my Lord."

"Excellent work Quartermaster, I'm sure that the Legion's leaders are pleased with what they see." Bionics did hope they were, as he had just done this without their proper consultation. From the looks of pleasant surprise on their faces, he assumed that they were indeed pleased. "Quartermaster, if you would accompany us? I intend to build this Echidna a new body" he indicated Dimitri.

"As you wish, my Lord" the Quartermaster bowed deeply, and then led the trio into the centre of the armoury chamber. In there was a set of assembling implements, and a larger version of the armour generators. The Quartermaster barked out a strange robotic warble to the other armourers in the area. They all bowed slowly and set to work preparing the generator chamber.

It took about 30 seconds to complete, and barely as sound was made in the process. Dimitri had been discreetly scanned by the armourers, the data had been fed into the generator's controls and the chamber had produced a mechanical, headless body. It was chrome silver, and looked sleek and well made. Dimitri's expression seemed one of approval "Your technicians would appear to be artisans in their own right."

"Thank you, Grandmaster" said the Quartermaster with another bow "But that was only the first half. Now we must remove you from your suspension bubble and upgrade your head to fit the body." Dimitri now showed a look of some apprehension "If it is necessary, but be careful. I'm still part organic."

"They will be. There is no need to concern yourself over your welfare." Bionics was dismissive of any concerns Dimitri had. "You will not come to harm."

"Very well" Dimitri finally sighed "Remove me from this glass prison."

The armourers clustered around Dimitri and proceeded to gently prise open the glass ball that surrounded what little remained of him. The Quartermaster held carefully onto the Grandmaster's head as it was disconnected permanently from the tentacle dreadlocks that made up his mode of transportation. As soon as it was disconnected, it slumped over and crashed to the floor completely unceremoniously. After this, the Quartermaster took Dimitri's exposed head and placed it reverentially into the generator chamber on top of the body.

Dimitri and the body disappeared as the swirling energies in the chamber hid him from view. There was the slightest intake of breath heard from him as the process continued. The light was intense. Despite this none of the people present needed to shield their eyes. When the light dimmed, Dimitri's head was now attached to his new body. Something was different though, very different.

His head was nothing like it had been before. His triangular lens eye had now been removed, and a pair of sleek new eyes was in the place of the old ones. The metal of his head was... strange. It was undeniably metal, but still it _moved_! The metal that made up most of his head, his new dreadlocks and face was malleable and could move about as easily as normal organic limbs and skin. Dimitri's body colour had changed as well. Whereas moments earlier he and the body had been shining silver, now it was the echidna race's generic shade of crimson, but it still retained a metallic, chromed sheen. A flowing black cloak was draped over Dimitri's back, with the Dark Legion's crest embroidered on it.

Dimitri inspected himself; moving limbs experimentally, looking at his strange new dreadlocks, made of the malleable metal, and then paused. He held up each arm so that his palms faced his head. Suddenly, out of each arm came a single gun barrel, both with the same muzzle as that of Bionics' troop's rifles.

"Ah yes, that's one of the more important features" said Bionics with wan smile "A pair of arm lasers. You can now fight and protect yourself as you see fit. The metal forming most of your head and parts of your body such as your hands is a special 'living metal' compound that I have access to. It is not itself alive, but reacts as though it were part of a living organism. It can be solid or semisolid in nature. My arm, my eye circuitry, my bones and most of my internal organs are made of an advanced version of the living metal which covers your head and makes up _your_ new internal organs, Dimitri."

"It is good to be able to walk properly again, and to see the world without a sheet of glass blocking it from me." Dimitri touched his new hands to his eyes. "I can see differently now, I can see as though my eyes were not mechanical."

"Yes, your vision is upgraded to your desires and to the best tactical facts. You can do everything you could do as an organic, or a cyborg and then yet more. You are faster, stronger, tougher and more powerful than you could possibly have been by the craft of mortal technicians..."

* * *

Watching the events unfold in the cold, yet bustling environment of the armoury, Lien-Da looked at Dimitri and his new body and felt a sudden twinge of subconscious anger. She had always been simmering, waiting patiently to come to boil in the moment she would attempt to overthrow Dimitri and take control of the Dark Legion as she saw fit. It was her right; she was of the line of Grandmasters, it was owed to her on two counts, for Aurora's sake, it was well and truly her birthright!

Now, with this new body of his, Dimitri would have been all that much tougher to beat when push came to shove. _Hold on..._ She thought suddenly, _what do I mean 'would have been'? I still have that plan on the go don't I? Bionics doesn't change anything fundamental, surely?_

_...Ah, but he might..._ said a small voice somewhere beyond her control in her mind. She knew what it was: Her conscience. That side of a person that was sympathetic and caring and told you right from wrong. As if she'd ever listened to her conscience before, as if!

No-one in her family or her life as far she could see had given her cause for conscience. She cared for her people, but not others, not non-Echidnas. They did not deserve the right to rule. It had been her race that were the first to attain true civilization on Mobius, so any other state, empire, republic or governing body should not have the ruling power that the Echidnas was theirs to claim by right. _Why then_, her mind was screaming, _are you talking to this hedgehog_, _god or not, as a bloody _equal!

..._Because we need his help... _said her new conscience in a mothering tone of voice ..._how could you or the Legion survive _without_ his help...? _In her heart Lien-Da knew she couldn't have, but that thought did hurt her considerable pride. She did feel different about him, she could not deny that now, but she felt that she should not allow him to change her, she had always been the way she was, and she didn't want to show weakness.

She could not allow herself to show any weakness to anyone. Lien-Da would never forgive herself if she allowed that to happen. ..._I would..._ was her conscience's treacherous echo ..._and I think he will as well. You feel something good about him, he will do what's right for you, and do you know something? I think he feels something for you..._

_SHUT UP! _Lien-Da screamed inside her head, desperate to silence the horrible truth. _Shut up shut up shut-up-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up! Shut the bloody, blasted hell up! _Silence, perfect and absolute, reverberated in her head, ringing soundlessly from every corner. Lien-Da felt her own view of the world collapse and shatter all around her. She couldn't take this sort of-

"...Are you okay, Kommissar?"

Lien-Da woke violently from her mental breakdown with a start. Bionics and Dimitri stared at her with curious looks on their faces. She had been lost in thought for too long and had been noticed by the pair. She pulled back from them both "I'm just fine, thank you, I don't need any help." Bionics straightened up again and said "as you wish. Now if you so desire I will upgrade your cybernetic dreadlock to the prime standard. Would you permit me to do that?"

"Your technicians can do it, but not you" She wanted nothing more right now than not to be going anywhere near him for a little while. Bionics placed his hands on his hips and chuckled. "_We_ do not do anything; the machine does that for you. You must step inside with the correct sequence applied for the process to work." Lien-Da eyes suddenly widened at this. She turned at stared at the chamber.

"You must be joking, surely?" Lien-Da was not scared of the chamber, she'd never been scared of many things for a long time now, but the thought of being in there did make her... uncomfortable. Bionics' smirk oozed smugness from every corner of his mouth. "I'm not joking, I assure you. The process is completely safe, and will not hurt in the slightest. There will be an unusual sensation but nothing to be concerned over.

Lien-Da was still wary, he was not out to harm them, despite her apprehensions, but there is always a little voice in one's mind that says 'What if something goes wrong?' She knew in her mind she did sort of want this upgrade. The cybernetically enhanced dreadlock she had on the left side of her head was a symbol; it showed she was one of the Dark Legion. She knew that all of the other Legionnaires had upgrades now, so she couldn't be inferior by any means.

She didn't say another word to anyone their present, she simply stepped forward and entered the generator chamber. She turned around just in time to see the armourers type something into the control panel, and to see Bionics smile at her, before the swirling energies of the generator blocked everything from view. What happened next was quite extraordinary. Lien-Da found herself in a strange no place, an infinite stretch of nothing coloured cyan with energy.

Some of this energy leapt up from the ground and caressed her cybernetic dreadlock. She had to quell the urge to withdraw from this and found out that Bionics had been right, in that there was no pain. The energy cocooned her dreadlock for a moment longer, and when it had cleared she felt that it had changed. She moved it in front of her face with her hand, and saw it was now made of, or even just layered with, Bionics' living metal substance.

She thought that was it and that she could now leave, but nothing happened at first. Then dozens of energy tendrils burst from the ground and began to travel up her body. Now she did try to escape, but the tendrils held on and followed her movements. Bionics' voice echoed through the expanse of void, saying "please do not struggle."

"What are you doing to me? Let me go!" Lien-Da swung her fists at the tendrils, but they simply dissipated and reappeared again to continue their task.

"Nothing is going to hurt or harm you, I swear it Kommissar. Just don't move for a moment longer, I implore you." Lien-Da felt the adrenaline spike continue to course through her but she did try to fight it off and let the energy do its job, whatever that was. It reached up and covered her entire body save for her head now, and as before, it formed a cocoon of energy. There was a tingling sensation all over her body, and Lien-Da seemed to see the cocoon expand slightly. When it was done it seemed to slide off of her and moved to a point just in front of her.

Lien-Da looked down at herself, and to her shock saw that she was now clothed in power armour similar to that of Bionics and his soldiers. It was shaped to fit the female form more and, to add to that, appeared to be more elegant in design. It almost made Bionics armour seem bulky... almost. She also felt that she had a cloak on her back. She knew that on the cloak, like Dimitri's before hers, was emblazoned the Dark Legion's emblem.

The tendrils rose up and a helmet facemask with visor appeared in front of her. She took it and saw that it hooked on to her belt, which she did. The cocoon in front of her cleared slightly to reveal her leather bodysuit, which it had removed from her in order to place the armour. She gathered it all up, held her boots in her right hand and draped the clothes over her left arm. Then the void of energy collapsed, and the armoury was once again visible. Lien-Da stepped from the generator chamber. Dimitri seemed to be impressed with what he saw in his deputy. "The armour suits you well, the upgraded cybernetics are also exceptionally well crafted."

Lien-Da's immediate desire was to brush her superior off, but felt compelled by decorum not to do so. She took a moment to look at the armour in the new light. Then she remembered the facemask and visor strapped to her belt. She put down her boots on a convenient table, removed the facemask and placed it to her face. She found that fitted her perfectly, but also felt strangely roomy. It wasn't too hot or cold and she did feel as though she could breathe in it.

A few seconds after she had placed the facemask on several metal plates sprang out of nowhere and proceed to cover her whole head and her organic dreadlocks. She removed her hand and looked at the world through the helmet's high-tech HUD. Everything was being displayed in standard colours, but it made out every individual and every weapon in the room. All of the Legionnaires, the armourers and the Quartermaster, Dimitri and Bionics had a green outline around them to mark them as allies. It notified her that red was for enemies and blue was for civilians plus weaponry.

She looked around, placed her spare clothes on the table, reached to a rack for a rifle, and took control of it. A targeting reticule in light blue appeared on screen and followed the direction which she pointed the rifle. Bionics spoke out, saying "basic enough stuff, the reticule turns red when it's pointed at the bad guys, aaand...?" Lien-Da waited a moment, then sighed as she saw he was waiting for her to guess the answer. "And green when pointed at the good guys" she said in a droning tone of voice. He was infuriating, patronising her like that.

Bionics smiled almost sarcastically, like the smile a teacher gives when rewarding a pupil. "Good, also the outline and reticle also turn orange for unknown allegiance. Frivolities aside, both of you are now upgraded to the highest standards in terms of what your bodies allow. The rest of Dark Legion will be completed in nine minutes approximately, after which they will be shown to their individual sleeping quarters."

"Superb" said Dimitri, as Lien-Da picked her leather clothes and boots back up "You do seem to know how to cater for your guests, Bionics"

"Thank you, Dimitri" Bionics gave a small bow of gratitude. "Now I am aware that the afternoon is encroaching upon us. I will show you to your own personal quarters." Bionics turned to his Quartermaster and nodded curtly. The Quartermaster bowed in return, and with that Bionics, Dimitri and Lien-Da all made their way back to the lift that had brought them there.

* * *

Writer's notes: This chapter is arriving later than expected as I found progress on my laptop work slow. I will going on a holiday to London over the course of the weekend, so I'll be dropping off the grid in terms of messages and similar. Talking about the actual story now, we see the beginnings of a deep seated relationship forming here. I do plan to take this budding couple in Bionics and Lien-Da further... Anyway, this chapter should hopefully be a little longer than the others. Brace yourself for a continuity shocker when we get to our next chapter, where we meet 'A Scourge From the Past'.


	6. Chapter 5: A Scourge From the Past

Author's Disclaimer's: Sonic and related characters are copyright of either Sega or Archie Comics, as are the terms Soultouch and Great Peace. Aside from this it is all my own ideas.

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Scourge from the Past**

The lift propelled them all the way up to 100 feet below the roof. The surface of the Spire split where the inner doors were to allow entrance into the otherwise impregnable fortress. The three of them made their way along a small series of Spartan corridors to reach a pair of gilt doors. Bionics turned to them and indicated the doors. "These are your quarters Dimitri, it may not be exactly to your tastes but it is of the best quality. I will give you some time to get used to your new surroundings. I must now show your Kommissar to her quarters, if you will excuse us."

Dimitri bowed deeply to the machine god just as the doors quietly clicked shut and blocked him from view. Bionics turned to Lien-Da and indicated along the long corridor "If you will follow me." He led her along to the next set of chambers, their footsteps ringing as they went. As they went along, she took off her new helmet and placed it on her belt again. They reached the doors to Lien-Da's new bedroom, which were as gilded as the previous pair.

"Do go in, see what you think" Bionics said as the doors swung eerily open. Lien-Da stepped cautiously inside. When she was inside it was like stepping into another era of time. She was surrounded in a massive, regal bedroom the kind usually reserved for royalty. The room itself was very spacious; it had a plush chair, with an ornate coffee table beside it, on a multicoloured and patterned rug. A warm, roaring log fire heated and lit the room from its place in the opposite wall from the doors. There was a wardrobe, a large chest of drawers and a full length mirror also on the opposite wall.

The crowning glory of the room by far was the luxuriant bed on the far right side of the room. It was a four poster bed with a quilted duvet detailed with cloth of gold, the wood was finest mahogany, the pillows were well plumped and it looked as clean and well maintained as it could possibly be. It was a bed fit for a king or queen.

Lien-Da was suitably taken aback by all of it. Life in the Dark Legion had meant some hardships but she had known luxury before. This however, was on a completely different scale. She had never, ever begun to think that by that evening she would have sleeping in a bedroom like this one. Bionics stepped forward into the room alongside her. "I take it then that you approve?" he asked.

"I do approve, very much" Lien-Da said, her eyes wide with pleasant surprise. "This is amazing! I've only ever dreamed of a bedroom like this." Bionics seemed to have a relieved look on his face. "That's good. I'll leave you here to get used to it, I need to go to my planning room and organise my forces. Excuse me." Bionics turned on the spot and walked out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him. The bedroom doors shut, as it turned out, of their own accord. Now Lien-Da was alone in her new bed chambers. She put her bodysuit's boots on her bed, went over to the wardrobe and opened it.

There several coat hangers already placed inside, and a compartment was set into the base of the wardrobe itself. She placed her helmet in the compartment first, then stepped back and began to take her armour off to get back in her leather bodysuit. She somehow just knew what to do in that regard, the information regarding these things had just sort of implanted itself in her mind.

Her thoughts began to wander back to the moment between her and Bionics on the Spire's roof. It had been quite a personal thing between them both, she had actually let their hands interlock with each other. She wanted to blame that on her emotional weakness, on letting her guard down and crying so that he could wrap her around his finger. Oh, how she wanted to believe that.

In her heart though, she knew that it simply wasn't like that. Bionics, despite his intimidating facade, despite the way he could be quite odd at times, did not appear to harbour a single malicious thought towards them, or towards her. She frowned as she removed the last armoured plates and started on the under suit. What was it he had said to her in that close moment? _"I would never want to hurt you, and I would never forgive myself if I did. I only want to help you, to protect you, to keep you safe." _The way he had said it, Lien-Da now swore that he had been referring not to the Dark Legion, but to her personally. Surely not...

She shivered slightly at the thought for a moment, then finally removed the under suit and began to put her leather one back on, trousers first, then top, boots, gloves and finally belt. She looked at herself in the full length mirror by the bed for a while. After she was sure everything was put on correctly she went and sat on her four poster bed. It felt perfect. It did so not just because it was supremely comfortable and pristine, but mainly because it exuded the strange sensation that this was really _her_ bed, that she really belonged in it and no other bed would do.

Lien-Da lay down on top of the duvet and continued to think about Bionics. She had managed to stop her conscience from whispering in her head for a while, but now it seemed to have come back with a vengeance. ..._You already have a fine idea why he was talking to you like that. You know what I'm talking about all too well..._

_Leave me alone_ Lien-Da thought as she rolled over to stare into the fire, _I should have more control over you. You've never troubled me before, so why now?_

_...You have always stifled me, always kept me locked away. I have grown inside you to become something new, something better. I am a voice now, not just a feeling..._

_Please leave me alone, you're hurting me inside._

_... I can't just leave you alone now; he has awakened me, you are destined to be with him. You have experienced the Soultouch... _Lien-Da's eyes physically widened at this. This was a shock beyond anything she had expected today. The Soultouch was a sixth sense developed by Echidnas which allowed them to tell that they had met their soulmate in life. All they had to do was lay eyes on them and the Soultouch would take effect. The first of the pair would have an attraction to the other, just like Lien-Da herself was having now, and they would follow the other until they realised the Soultouch as well.

Lien-Da had never expected to be affected by the Soultouch at all, let alone experience it with a complete stranger, a non-Echidna and a god. Her conscience elaborated, saying _...This is a wonderful thing. I can help you through it..._

_I don't need your help! I need to save myself! I cannot be weak, I just cannot! Leave. Me. ALONE!_

_...I can't, not anymore, you need my help. You can deny it all you want, but you know it's true. Let me in, let me help you..._

Lien-Da felt her new tears fall onto her pillow. She felt like a knife had pierced her heart. She knew now that it was the damned Soultouch which attracted her to Bionics, but she had never felt this way about anyone before. It actually hurt her inside to have these feelings towards him. Did he feel the same way about her? She didn't know about that, but her feelings towards him...

Lien-Da found herself looking deep into the log fire. The flames suddenly seemed very engrossing, very, very engrossing. Shapes began to form in the fire, images blossomed forth from it. The fire showed two figures sword duelling, a massive battle outside the Republic of Acorn's capital of New Mobotropolis, a group of different Mobians in deep discussion.

Then the most shocking image; Bionics and herself, standing in an undefined background embracing, alone, staring into each other's eyes in a loving manner. Then suddenly they were kissing passionately, eyes closed, and their apparent devotion to each other boundless. This continued for a few seconds, and then the scene burned away. The final image was of Bionics, on his knees on a balcony somewhere in torrential rain. His organic eye was bloodshot and full of tears and hatred, his artificial one glowing deep red with the iris burning orange. He raised his face to the heavens and screamed out:

"_DIABOLUS!"_

The image was burned and obscured from view, leaving only... flames. The fire crackled innocently as Lien-Da's eyes finally widened and she rolled onto her back abruptly. She clutched her duvet with both hands in a death grip as she began in a cold sweat. What had just happened? How had it happened? Were those images predictions of the future?

Now she knew for sure that it was Bionics, who had screamed out that name. But what could cause him to do so, and how could he possibly lose control like that? She nearly jumped out of her skin when the doors to her chamber clicked open and one of Bionics' soldiers strode in. She felt the frustration rise as she snapped at the soldier "What is it!?"

"Kommissar, I apologise for disturbing you, Lord Bionics had requested your presence in his planning room. I am to show you the way." Lien-Da moved off of the bed, stretched, and held her hand out to the door for the soldier to show the way. It nodded and began to walk off down the corridor, Lien-Da following behind it.

They made their way back along the corridors to the lifts yet again and went down to a point ½ a mile from the top. The soldier led her through some darker corridors to a door that slid up into the ceiling. The room beyond had far more of a sci-fi feel.

All around the room on the walls were flowing green lines of light, like the lines on a circuit board. Also around the room at the edges were several figures working at interactive holographic screens, they had no legs and were plugged to the floor via sleek pillars laced with more light lines. In the middle of the room was a giant planning table, with holographic controls and 3D projectors. Several armoured soldiers of different Mobian species, with different coloured cloaks and detailing on the armour, were clustered around the table and pointing and conferring.

Bionics stood at the side of the table closest to Lien-Da, Grandmaster Dimitri beside him, and he turned around as she approached and smiled. "Ah, Kommissar, I'm so glad you could join us. Have a look at this." He pointed at an image hovering over the table. "Captains, if you make some room..." The colourful soldiers, Bionics' captains, shifted and created a space for Lien-Da to see the planning table clearly.

She stepped up and gazed at holographic screen before her. It was what appeared to be a camera feed to the outside of the Spire, looking along one of the canyons leading to and from the massive tower. The image shifted and zoomed in on an area a mile down it. Now she could see what Bionics had been pointing to. Hurtling down the canyon at incredible speed was a thin green streak of light.

Lien-Da already knew what it was, who it was, as she watched draw ever closer to the Spire.

"...Scourge" she said under her breath. Bionics gave the Kommissar a quizzical look. "You know what that thing is?"

"Not what, who, he is Scourge the Hedgehog. He is the one who started this whole blasted war against the Republic of Acorn in the first place. He is the one responsible for most of the attacks that thinned our ranks like this. He comes from-"

"Anti-Mobius, or Moebius with an 'e', which is the opposite of this planet in another dimension, I'm afraid I already know that part, but I don't think I know about Scourge as such. Tell me what you can about him."

"Alright, as far as I know he's Sonic the Hedgehog's Moebian counterpart. He's evil to the core and has none of Sonic's good values apart from his speed and perhaps his ability to sweet talk. He conquered the whole of Moebius and proclaimed himself as king. Now he's here with his army and his Suppression Squad to conquer this planet as well. We don't know how this has happened, but his army is much larger than we believe there are Mobian counterparts here. Somehow he's got far more soldiers than his planet's population limit should allow; several hundred thousand. The Republic is holding out, just, but they are losing this war at the moment. Does that help Bionics?"

She became aware that he was no longer looking at her, but more through her. His eyes were glazed and full of sadness, and he appeared lost in painful recollection of something. "Bionics? Hey, are you okay?" He snapped out of it and looked back at her. "Yes... yes I am, and yes it does help, thank you. I'm going to meet with him on top of the Spire, alone. It is best that you do not accompany me or your anonymity here will be compromised."

Lien-Da and Dimitri nodded, and with that Bionics gave out an order that the incoming Scourge be allowed to pass and be directed to the top of the Spire. He turned and strode out of the planning room. As he left, Lien-Da was sure she heard him whisper "Oh, Sonic, why did you do this?"

* * *

Bionics felt devastated as he walked out of the room. He could not help but whisper "Oh, Sonic, why did you do this?" He walked down the corridors with his hands behind his back, tucked away under his cloak. He was overwhelmed with the thoughts in his head; he wanted to think about them, but as he did so it stung his heart.

It was the memory that hurt above all. Above the speculations, above the fears, above the hopes and emotions he had about this matter it was that single, wonderful, terrible memory that played in his mind over and over and over again. He had cherished it, but had always kept his mental distance from it. It was forbidden, it was something he had not been allowed to do, but he had done it, and he had never felt apologetic about it for one moment. That one memory, that one memory...

* * *

_Moebius, 10 years ago..._

_It was a time of celebration, a time of joy, a time in which every Moebian could marvel and bask in their species' own magnificence. The Great Peace was upon them, and it affected everyone. Everyone seemed content, everyone seemed rapturous, everyone seemed happy. Well, nearly everyone._

_If someone very perceptive looked very closely at the tableau of perfection they would see a fault, a crack in the glass, a smear on the canvas. One young hedgehog had a sullen look on his face. He was decidedly not enjoying his time there. This young, blue hedgehog was standing behind another, taller, more impressive one. _

_This other hedgehog, the boy's father, was resplendent in his cape and top hat and the carnation pinned to his chest like a medal. He carried a small sceptre with him and he held his hands out, shouting out to the crowds of waiting Moebians in front of him. He was the one who had organised the Great Peace, he was its mastermind, and he was a hero to the people._

_He was not a hero to his son. To his son he was absent, he never had any time for him, and he never did the things a father should. As far as the boy, Sonic was his name, was concerned his father was never really going to love him as he knew the man should. _

_Before his father walked away he reached out and held on to the cape in a distant manner, as if hoping that this small gesture would be enough to bring his father to his senses and they would be happy together as family. Instead his father took no notice and strutted on to meet the adoring crowds. The cape slid out of the 7 year old Sonic's grasp and he stared at his hand, wanting to cry. He slowly clenched the hand into a fist before letting it drop to his side, and lowering his head in sorrow._

_And it was here that, unbeknownst to him, time itself was fractured._

_Sonic heard the sound of light footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn or raise his head. The footsteps stopped beside him, and he heard a slight dusting sound to his right. Now he did turn, and then look up, to see a strange new hedgehog looming at his side._

_His fur was deep purple, he had a weird set of three head quills, he was wearing faded blue jeans, a pair of black, red and orange sneakers, a black zip-up jacket with a strange little logo over the heart, and a solitary black leather glove over his right hand. The figure's right arm was noticeably bulkier than his left and despite the pair of sunglasses he wore, they did nothing to effectively conceal his bionic left eye, which glowed cool blue with a cyan iris._

_The dusting sound had issued from the bright red apple the hedgehog had been polishing on his jacket. He didn't look straight at Sonic, but he did address him, and he spoke informally yet with a proper, well spoken, possibly Mercian accent._

"_It's quite a celebration, isn't it?" Sonic looked back at the jubilant crowds, the confetti and the celebration and felt all the more distant "...Yeah, I suppose it is."_

_The hedgehog was about to take a bite from the apple, but then looked down at Sonic for the first time and gave him a puzzled look "So why are you here looking glum? I would have thought a lad your age would be running around gleefully."_

"_Well I'm not, you got a problem with that?" said Sonic, biting back at this stranger. The hedgehog held up his hands in mock surrender as a sign of peace. "No, no, of course not, I meant no offence. I just wondered what could cause you to look so miserable."_

_Sonic felt the desire to rise to this hedgehog again surge through him, but it was quelled by a more powerful surge of sadness that spiked him continuously. He lowered his head again and said "I shouldn't talk to you. My dad said not to talk to strangers..." The hedgehog knelt down beside him and looked off at Sonic's father in the distance, "that's your dad over there is it?" Sonic shuffled his feet and nodded solemnly._

_The hedgehog turned back to look at him and said "Well, you don't seem very happy about him. I did notice he does seem a bit preoccupied to talk to you." Sonic looked back up to see his father laughing in conversation with several Moebians, and felt yet another fresh wave of bitter sadness. "...Yeah..." His hands became fists again as an outlet to his negativity. The hedgehog gently placed his ungloved hand on the boy's right shoulder._

"_It seems to me then, that if you feel the way you do about him, you wouldn't care about what he tells you to do, now would you?" Sonic finally looked into the hedgehog's eyes for the first time and saw the compassion and audacious suggestion in them. The stranger continued "I don't think your old man will mind if I look after you for a while. What do you say to that?" Sonic felt a rush of happiness flow through his body and lift his heart. He wanted nothing more right now than to get away from it all and know some contentment._

_He grinned and said "Yeah, I'd like that, man." The hedgehog stood up, also smiled. "What's your name, son?" Sonic knew that he didn't mean 'son' literally, but right now it didn't matter one bit. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog"_

"_And I'm Bionics" said the hedgehog._

"_That's a weird name" Sonic said with a scoff. Bionics then laughed and retorted "what's wrong with it? I haven't made any comments about your name 'Sonic'"._

_Sonic laughed as well; the first time in a long time. "I like you Bionics, you and me are buddies now, right?"_

_Of course we are, buddy" Bionics grinned idiotically, then tossed his apple to Sonic, who caught it deftly. "Come on then, let's go and have some fun Sonic, you and me." Bionics began to walk off and Sonic, taking a generous bite from the apple, followed his new friend. Suddenly the day was a bright and colourful as it should have been to a 7 year old, and now everyone in the tableau of the Great Peace really _was_ happy, everyone..._

_

* * *

_

It had lasted a month. One month of watching over that dimension and spending time with Moebian Sonic, one month of making that kid really happy, one month of giving him someone to talk to and to look up to and one month of pure bliss for Bionics to release his own inner child and have some time off from being a god.

Then he had been discovered by the Great Creator, he had been called back to the Diamond Alpha, and it had broken his heart to tell Sonic he had to go. Sonic had cried and begged him not to, he really didn't want his friend to leave, but Bionics had had no choice. He had done his best to explain why he had to go and why he couldn't return without compromising his master, and he had done all he could to leave a good impression on the boy, but even so he felt it would never really be enough for Sonic to ever understand at that age.

They had both hugged and cried and then finally Bionics had said his final goodbye and left. Upon his return he had been disciplined by the Creator, and had been made to suffer 10 days and nights of mind numbing guilt as a punishment for his dangerous actions. It had hurt him more than any physical or mental wound before or since, and he felt that he had kept hold of some of that guilt to remind him of the sin he would never be sorry for.

Bionics wiped a solitary tear from his normal eye and finally reached the lift. He went to the Spire's roof again, gave the order that no-one was to mention his name to Scourge until they had met, and sat behind his throne on the back of the steps. He crossed his arms and waited.

* * *

The tower ahead was insane. It was insanely tall and insanely looming, but it was also very regal. Scourge felt that, as he sped through the canyon, he had to give credit where it was due. That this immense structure had just appeared overnight was very impressive. It was a tower fit for a king, fit for him then.

He reached up, touched the metal crown on his forehead and found himself light-heartedly reminiscing about his times here. He had wreaked so much havoc across this planet, sowing chaos and distrust among his goody-two-shoes twin and his pitiful little gang.

He had gone to Angel Island and absorbed some of the Master Emerald's energy and become more powerful than the Prime Sonic, but had endured a boring lecture about how they weren't really so different. So he had given it a great deal of thought and had gone back to his Moebius. He'd conquered it so easily, it had taken him just days. Days and weeks!

He was its king, and it was _his_ girl Fiona Fox that was by his side as queen. He had reformed the old gang and made them the Suppression Squad, his captains and elite at the moment, he'd gathered an army together and was now well in the process of conquering this world as well. One thing that was odd was that there were actually more Moebians alive at that point that Mobians, and so Scourge's army numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Not that this was a bad thing, of course, it was all the better for Scourge and his conquest, so he didn't really care about this anomaly. Once Mobius was under his rule, the possibilities were endless.

Here resistance was tougher, people just did not want to conform, and so he had to flex his muscles a bit, show them who the real boss was and what he could do. It had so far taken far too long, three months now, way too slow for his liking, but he was well into the arrangements for an attack which would change all that...

He smiled and bared his sharpened teeth as he reached the mouth of the canyon. There was a massive plain ahead which gave this tower some room to be set down, all very tactical. He saw the large wall and smaller towers that made a perimeter and huffed arrogantly; like that was gonna stop him.

Funnily enough he was glad it hadn't been destroyed. That idiot Miles, the Moebian equivalent of Tails from this world, had decided that all guns blazing was the best policy and had fired dozens of missiles at the damn thing. Still, he had also picked up the Dark Legion nearby, and had ensured those pests were put out of their misery, much to Scourge's satisfaction.

Scourge took a running jump at the fortified wall and glided straight over it He landed on the other side with a loud clang as he hit metal and had a look around the interior space. He whistled appreciatively as he took in the half mile area, and then saw that someone was trying to get his attention by the tower itself. He darted over and stood in front of the figure. It turned out to be some kind of sleek, black armoured soldier with an equally sleek rifle in its hands.

"Nice look, dude" he said, nodding approvingly at the soldier, who just stood there unresponsive.

"Your Highness" it eventually said in a synthesised mechanical monotone, "my Lord and master requests the pleasure of your company on the roof of his Battle Spire. These lifts..." it indicated several tubes of metal and glass built into wall, "...will take you there."

"Lifts?" Scourge expression became a frown.

"Elevators, then, they will take you to my master."

"By formal invitation, aww, you shouldn't have. Nice to see you guys already know who I am, thanks for the heads up anyway" he went around the soldier and jogged into one of the lifts.

The doors shut behind him at once and a few seconds after getting in he was travelling with unrealistic speed upwards. He was amazed at the speed of the thing; normal elevators were crawling up and down compared to this. He looked out as the ground below surged further and further away. In 2 minutes he was at the top, and he went out of the other side of lift and onto the Spire's roof.

The sight of the roof with the sheer size of its span, the wing blades on the sides and the elevated throne on its steps added to Scourge's list of things that made this place seem perfect. The throne was particularly pleasing to his eye. He felt tempted to go and sit on it himself; see how it fitted. First, though, he went to the edge and looked down over the planet.

He had noticed a certain lack of 'lord and master' up here, but he knew he had to be around here somewhere, so he decided to speak up first. "Well I must say your 'Spire' really is a marvel. You have good taste, man, and you know how to address royalty when you see it. I'm flattered, believe me. Yeah, why, even I would like a place like this. What must it feel like to be up here, I wonder, watching over your domain from so high up?"

He became aware of some movement behind him and turned to face the master of this place. When he turned around he had a smug grin on his face, but upon seeing the face of the figure before him that grin froze, then faded slowly. He was staring at a face he recognised all too well, a face he recognised almost as family, a face he recognised from 10 long years ago.

"...Hello Sonic" said Bionics, smiling warmly.

Scourge was at a loss for words, he let his jaw drop as he took a few steps forward and rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.

"...I... ...It can't be..."

"It is" Bionics said, his smile broadening. Scourge felt overwhelmed by a wave of emotion and memories as he stepped even closer to his old friend. "...Bionics?" Bionics nodded, then started to laugh with mirth as he opened his arms to Scourge.

Scourge also began laughing, then reached out and joined his long lost friend in a brotherly embrace. "Bionics! It's so good to see you again, man!" Bionics laughed all the harder, then they both stepped back to look at each other. Scourge took the rest of Bionics in now and said "look at you, I mean what _are_ you dressed as in that armour and cloak? A Lord and master..."

"Well, look at you!" Bionics retorted playfully "You look nothing like how I remember you, colour change, scars, jacket, shades, and a crown! A king! You've come a long way from when I was with you, Sonic."

"Ah," Scourge said, waving his finger but still smiling "it's Scourge now, Bionics, 'kay?" Bionics tilted his head in fond memory "Oh, you'll always be Sonic to me, but hey, if that's who you want to be now, that's who I'll address you as."

"What can I say, that's who I _am_ now. I am King Scourge, I own my Moebius and eventually I'll own this Mobius too, just you wait and see." Scourge's toothy grin resurfaced now, but Bionics smile faded away. "Oh, dear me..."

"What? What's the matter?" Scourge frowned at his old buddy, and Bionics gave a pained expression back. "You're the one who started the war here, aren't you, Scourge?" Scourge seemed mostly nonplussed at this and said "yeah, is there something wrong with that?" Bionics let out a long, drawn out sigh, lowered eyes to the floor and put his hands behind his back. "I need to tell you the truth now, you'll understand more now than when I left you."

"Bionics, what are you talking about?" Scourge said, puzzled. Bionics looked his old friend straight in the eye and began his little speech: "I'm more than just a 'Lord and master' Scourge, a lot more. I won't beat about the bush, I'm a god, Scourge, a deity, and I've sent here by my master to help on this world. Do you remember what I told you about my master, the Great Creator of All Things Holy?"

"Sort of, yes, He's the one who made you leave me." Scourge felt odd. Bionics, a god, it just sounded so strange.

"That's right; I'm bound to serve Him as needed. I have my duties to consider. I am one of His greatest servants and have been for many years. He has sent me here to deal with a terrible threat, but also to help restore peace to the planet."

Scourge stared at Bionics for a moment as he took all of this in, and then it finally dawned on him "...peace?" Bionics nodded gravely "peace; at any cost."

"So He's forcing you to fight me, is that it?" Scourge said, his voice rising slightly. Bionics shook his head violently "No, no I'm not saying that, but I'm telling you that in light of my duties I have to make a request of you."

"And what would that be?" Scourge said, already suspecting the answer.

"Please stop this madness, Scourge, stop this pointless war. Make peace with the Republic of Acorn and pull your forces back. You can do anything you like back on Moebius, anything you like as its king. I'm not bound to do anything there, but you can't wage war and take this planet as well, it's against my master's laws, against the peace He maintains." Scourge really noted the painful, pleading tone in Bionics' voice. He knew that his friend thought he was trying to help him, but he was too late for that now, far too late.

"No can do, buddy, I'm too far into this to pull out now. I want both planets anyway, I'll be without compare." Scourge put his hand on Bionics' shoulder "Why don't you join me? I'm a King, You're a Lord and a god, were both buddies. Join me, forget your master, leave Him behind you. We could conquer this stupid little planet together and then reach out into the stars, two unstoppable Kings blazing across the Multiverse!"

Bionics didn't react. He stood looking at Scourge with all the visible emotion of a poker player. He blinked slowly, and the living metal shutter that replaced his left eyelid made a barely audible click. Finally he said "I am glad that you know about the Multiverse, but I wonder if you know its full extent. My master punished me, you know, for breaking His laws and spending time looking after you. It was ten non-stop days of guilt and sorrow so intense that it nearly drove me insane.

I keep some of that guilt in me so I don't take for granted that one sin that I don't regret: The sin of breaking my master's laws just to care for a boy who needed someone to look after him and make him happy. I will never regret doing that for you, Scourge, but when I left I had hoped that I may have made a change to the laws of that universe. I was wrong. The Great Creator's laws are absolute and you, like the rest of Moebius, will be the antithesis of all things on this planet. No-one, be they mortal or divine, can change the way you are, save for yourself.

You don't understand my master. He created everything, except for all things damned, and if He wanted to He could destroy it all. I was created by Him and if I went against Him He would remove me from existence itself. I must obey Him for the sake of the Multiverse and its safety. I cannot join you, I am sorry."

Scourge looked at his friend with a mix of disappointment and finality. He felt terrible now, his friend, his old and dear friend was being forced to play against him by his stupid master. This 'Great Creator' had now robbed Scourge of his buddy, his companion, his brother, and now had forced them into conflict.

Now Bionics put his hand on Scourge's shoulder and led him up the set of steps in the centre of the Spire's roof to the throne on top. He sat Scourge down on it, and then knelt down in front of him almost like a supplicant. Scourge was surprised to find that the throne did fit him, and seemed quite comfortable.

Bionics stared at Scourge with a serious look on his face and said "ten years ago you and I were friends, best friends. We are still friends now after all this lost time, I hope. If that friendship means anything to the new you, anything at all, you will prove it to me now." Scourge placed his right arm on the throne's armrest, screwed his eyes shut and gently pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. After a moment of consideration his eyes snapped open with a look of dark determination. His lips pursed as he stood up and glared at Bionics.

"I may have been your friend... Sonic may have been your friend, but I'm not him anymore. I am King Scourge the Hedgehog, and as far as I care, the Sonic you knew remember is gone."

"No, don't say that to me. Please Scourge, please... Sonic-"

"That is NOT MY NAME!" Scourge lashed out at Bionics, "Not anymore it's not. You did a lot for me back then, hell, you did more for me in a month than my old man ever did through all his life, so I won't fight you yet. If you cross me, though, I will not hesitate to grind you down, Bionics."

Bionics' face became as hard and emotionless as stone. "Don't underestimate me, Scourge, if you do this you will be making a very, _very_ bad enemy for yourself." He held out his hand as a sign of decorum, but Scourge simply slapped it away. Bionics drew himself up and bowed curtly. "Your Highness."

"Whatever" Scourge huffed as he strode on back to the lifts. He entered and the two hedgehogs shared expressionless looks before the lift doors closed and Scourge was whisked down to ground level. On the way down he growled in frustration and thumped the curved windowpane in front of him, leaving a crack in the otherwise flawless crystal.

* * *

Author's notes: I'm posting this chapter a wee bit earlier than I expected, due to my current laptop chapter being a long one. As I said in the last set of notes, I was going for a continuity shocker in this story. We now know why Lien-Da feels the way she does about him so soon in the story, and also vice versa to a degree. Bear in mind that while try to research and adapt the back story and physics of the Archie comics stories _religiously_, I may get a few things wrong now or in the future. Now we see two old friends set against each other in this conflict, we'll have to see how this scrap turns out. I hope this morsel will keep you entertained until Chapter 6, where our two protagonists 'Exit the First Day' on a mixed note. (I really need to stop being over the top with my chapter name hints.)


	7. Chapter 6: Exit the First Day

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of Sega or Archie comics. Bionics is still mine, last I checked, as are the things I have specified in my previous chapters. Great Peace, Great War and Albion Knights of Aurora also belong to Archie, as does anything that I may have missed that you read about.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Exit the First Day**

At the top of the Spire, Bionics walked up to and slumped onto his throne. He sat perfectly still for a long moment, then lowered his head, clasped his forehead and descended into frustrated tears. He hadn't wanted this, he hadn't expected it either. His friend Sonic, his friend from another dimension and another time had gone, and in his place something evil had taken root. The work of the Ultimate Evil was the most obvious cause of this, but then the Creator had made the dimension Scourge had come from evil by design, so Diabolus couldn't have had anything to do with it.

Scourge may just have been Prime Sonic's counterpart, and as such would have wreaked havoc across his own world quite easily, but he should have been incapable of making havoc across this world to this scale. The Great Creator made it very difficult for people or forces from opposing dimensions to conquer one another, which was why Scourge's invasion of this planet had taken so much longer.

But he had done a huge amount of damage here, and had taken a lot of land. Scourge was close to upsetting the balance of the Multiverse. Bionics now realised that this must was part of why he had been sent. As a god and the Creator's enforcer he was one of the few people with both the power and the Creator's trust who could accomplish this task. But why had He sent Bionics if he had known all these emotions would have an effect on his efficiency?

Bionics knew the answer would come in time, but now he had to concentrate and get back to his primary duties. He decided to translocate back to the planning room, the only reason he hadn't done it before was he needed time to think. Upon reappearing there he saw a camera feed showing Scourge speed off away from the Spire, but then he looked around and gathered that from Lien-Da's shocked and accusing glare that she, Dimitri and his captains had witnessed everything from the projected camera feed to the roof.

"You knew Scourge?" Dimitri said with a critical tone. Bionics sighed and nodded. "Yes I knew him, very well in fact. Ten years ago I went to Moebius to witness the Great Peace, the opposite to this Mobius' Great War. I was there with a god of time to ensure the twin timelines ran smoothly and stayed opposite. While I was there I noticed Scourge aged seven while he was still Sonic, sort of, and he seemed to be terribly upset and depressed. My kind nature got the better of me and I could not help but intervene.

I looked after him in a way. During the month I was assigned there for I was his best friend. I gave him the kindness and attention that any kid his age needed, he loved me and I loved him. Then when my time was up the Great Creator of All Things Holy, my master, found out what I was doing and put an end to it. I was made to abandon Sonic on Moebius and return to my master's..." He tried to think of the most suitable non-compromising word, and plumped on "dimension. I was punished for my actions and put back to work, leaving that boy alone without his friend for ten years."

The Dark Legion leaders took all this in with stunned silence. Finally Lien-Da said "Your master punished you for helping Scourge when he was a kid?"

"No, I was punished partly because I could have compromised my master's security and secrecy, but mostly because when I did help Scourge I interfered with established history. He was still a very focal point of the timeline despite being from the Anti-Mobius. No-one, not even a god, is allowed to interfere with the fabric of established history and fixed time, save for the Great Creator. He never did tell me the full extent of the damage I caused."

* * *

Lien-Da felt a sudden prickling at her heart. She slowly realised that she was feeling sympathetic for him. Even now she didn't necessarily like that, and it was an unfamiliar sensation. She simply nodded in understanding and said "well now you and Scourge have drawn your lines in the sand, what do we do now?"

"Now, we simply wait" Bionics said assertively "I will set up my forces to guard the perimeter walls and then we can plan on how to make contact with the Republic of Acorn. Apart from that we finish this day off on a quiet note I think, the Dark Legion is reequipped and rearmed, but you still need a good night's sleep. I think the next few days will be life changing, so rest is imperative."

There was sense behind that, of course. It had been a very life changing day already, but considering the storm brewing up in front of them, she couldn't help but agree with him. She did feel greatly fatigued by the fiascos of the last three months, and though today had been a good day, all she felt like now was a bit of leisure after all of it.

Dimitri stepped forward and said "Perhaps a respite may be the best way forward, though I doubt I can benefit from it."

"On the contrary, Dimitri, you can benefit from it as much as the rest of us." Bionics seemed to regain his knowing smile and the twinkle in his eye as the subject changed. "Your new body will allow for more than a mere robot. For example, and as a start to the later evening, I propose a dinner for you all as our guests. You have the capacity to eat normally as well, Dimitri. You can enjoy all the culinary delights there are to offer." Dimitri showed simple curiosity "indeed? I shall enjoy looking forward to that then."

The afternoon passed quite quickly after that. Bionics positioned some of his soldiers on the perimeter walls and snipers on the flak towers connecting them. Soldiers also lined the inside space at semi-regular intervals, and the weapon systems of the Spire were powered up to a prepared response level. If Scourge's army or indeed anyone attempted to attack they would be severely hindered. They all spent most of the rest of the afternoon in their quarters. Clothes and armour and weapons were stored away, rest and recuperation were taken, showers and baths were taken and pre-dinner refreshments were provided. The Battle Spire, that colossal fortress, was becoming like some celestial hotel for the Dark Legion. Everything was being catered for to the slightest detail.

When it came to the evening the entire Dark Legion arrived at a massive banquet table about halfway up the tower's sky-scraping vastness. At each end was another log fire, larger than the one's in the bedrooms. A single giant landscape painting dominated the side wall. None of the Legion would have known but it was a water colour painting of the Diamond Alpha, pale icy blue surrounded by its traditional palette of the seven colours of Chaos Untainted. The Dark Legion took the seats all around the giant oak table, while three seats at the end furthest from the doors to the dining hall were reserved for Bionics, Dimitri and Lien-Da. Once the entire Legion was seated plates and cutlery materialised in front of them all and then food appeared on the plates.

* * *

As the meal started Bionics watched as every single Echidna there seemed to really savour their individual meals. He had chosen to serve up various steaks and other such meat dishes. He had also prepared for the possibility of vegetarians if there were any, but it seemed there were none. He picked up his glass of red wine delicately and took a calculated sip. He caught a few words of conversation within the hubbub of the feast.

"...can't believe this is all happening..."

"... stronger now than even the Albion Knights of Aurora..."

"...allow us to do what we believe is right?"

"...sure we can trust this god? It all seems too good to be true..."

"...needed help anyway, so just enjoy your meal..."

Bionics broke off from this and looked at the two Dark Legion leaders. Lien-Da was chewing her steak slowly as though with relish, but the one enjoying dinner the greatest by a mile was Dimitri. Bionics assumed that he hadn't eaten properly for a very long time, and was trying to make the meal last forever. Bionics sloshed the wine around in his glass and leaned over to the Grandmaster. "I've been wondering, do you think we need an official name for our little coalition?" Dimitri paused in his enthusiastic eating and turned to face the god. "It is a possibility, and it may help with quick and easy identification. Why, did you have a name in mind?"

"Something nice and simple I thought. Me and my forces have no official name, we just are. I thought perhaps the 'Dark Alliance' might be good enough though; we are two forces working as one anyway."

"Simple but honest, it will suffice" Dimitri said, nodding, before he returned to his meal. Bionics turned to Lien-Da and asked "Does that sound good to you Kommissar?" Lien-Da looked up from her steak and said "Dimitri has the final say on these matters, my opinion is not important." "Maybe so, but it was I who asked for your opinion, not Dimitri." Lien-Da gave off the impression that although she was used to talking candidly on most occasions anyway it was an odd feeling to be asked to do so. "Very well, I also think it will be a good name for our partnership now. It is a little clichéd perhaps, but it will do."

Bionics smiled sincerely to show his satisfaction. He raised his wine glass to the pair of them and said "Very good, then I propose a toast, to the Dark Alliance." Dimitri and Lien-Da picked up their glasses and clinked them against his, as together they said softly "to the Dark Alliance." After the main course was over, the dessert had arrived, each one presented according to every person's conscious or subconscious preference. Bionics was in the middle of eating a slice of iced sponge cake when Lien-Da grabbed his attention and asked "what's that picture on the wall of? It looks amazing."

Bionics turned to look at the painting of the Diamond Alpha, and then his forehead creased with concern. "I don't know if I'm really allowed to tell you."

"Oh, go on, is it that bad? After all we are allies now as you said, and it's just a painting, so why not trust us a bit?" Bionics looked from the painting to Lien-Da and back again before sighing gently and saying "I suppose I do owe you that much at least. Okay, that is the Diamond Alpha. It is the star upon which the Great Creator lives and governs the Multiverse."

"He lives on a star?" Lien-Da pressed on. Bionics felt he had to oblige. "Not a star like in the general sense. Not a star that is a giant ball of flaming gases, the Diamond Alpha is infinitely more celestial than that. Instead, it still shines like a star but has so many more properties to it. It is made entirely of the single most powerful substance in the Multiverse: Creator's Diamond." Now Dimitri turned to Bionics with a curious expression, "what is Creator's Diamond? We have never heard of or encountered any before." Bionics put his cutlery down and pressed his fingertips together. "Not surprising, there has never been a truly natural deposit of it, and only gods have access to it, considering how immeasurably powerful it is."

"How powerful is it?"

Bionics closed his eyes and sighed mentally. He had started giving answers, but he had hoped that it would end quickly, but it seemed this was not the case. "As I said before, it is immeasurably powerful. The Diamond Alpha is made entirely of it and is what keeps the Multiverse together as a body of universes and dimensions. Without it the Multiverse would collapse and dissolve into the void in microseconds. I suppose a small example would not hurt. A Creator's Diamond the size of, say, a pebble or something similar could affect an entire planet of about Mobius' size." Both of the Dark Legion's leaders eyes widened at this, then Lien-Da asked "I don't suppose that Creator's Diamond has something to do with Chaos energy?" Bionics was momentarily thrown by this, "how do you know that?"

Lien-Da gave him a smug smile "the colours that surround the 'Diamond Alpha' are the same colours as our Chaos Emeralds, gems which share similar properties to your special diamond." Now Bionics understood, and he showed it on his face. "Ah, that would explain it. The seven colours your 'Chaos Emeralds' glow in are the seven colours of Chaos Untainted, Chaos energy which is pure and refined for general application to the Multiverse. Most gods have knowledge of it and some are learned in the arts of how to use it."

Bionics shifted in his chair and leaned forward "The way in which Creator's Diamond or, if you prefer, 'Chaos' Diamond is made is to concentrate enough unrefined Chaos energy into a single place until it develops into a compressed, mineral state. Then you continue to concentrate that energy even further until it enters a super-compressed state, and then refine it until nothing but Untainted Chaos energy remains. Creator's Diamond is the ultimate power of all things holy."

"Very interesting, but then why can our Chaos Emeralds be used by good and evil if they are the colours of Chaos Untainted?" Dimitri pondered aloud. Bionics held out his hand in explanation "your Chaos Emeralds are not refined like Creator's Diamond. They would be the same colours as Untainted but would use the power of Chaos Indiscriminate, which has less sheer power than Chaos energy refined either way, but can also be used by all forces good or evil. There are three main designations for Chaos energy in the Multiverse; Tainted, Untainted and Indiscriminate. We gods control Untainted and Indiscriminate, the Ultimate Evil uses Tainted."

"What is the Ultimate Evil?" Lien-Da further quizzed him. Bionics shook his head firmly and said "No, I have told you enough for one day, now let us finish our meals and be off to our quarters." His expression and tone of voice made it abundantly clear that the conversation was over. The rest of dinner passed without real incident. The desserts were finished, the plates and cutlery disappeared again and the Dark Legion and its godly host departed from the dining hall.

The evening brought with it a tableau of the low hanging sun blazing deep orange as it sank further below the horizon. An hour after dinner Bionics made his way to the top of his Spire and sat imperiously on his throne. He thought about his bed as he did. He hadn't slept at all, let alone in his bed, for nearly 600 years, the last time he had tried he had suffered tormenting nightmares about all the violence and death in his life. It seemed he was destined never to sleep well again, and so had given up sleeping as a waste of time.

He considered the revelations of the day carefully. Memories drudged up from the past, the present that had shown him what he would have to do here, the possible futures that lay immediately ahead. They all flittered past his mental vision, but even so they were pushed aside, along with logic, by the constant splinter in his mind that was Lien-Da. It could not be possible for him to feel anything for her in a romantic way after just one day, could it? That was what he believed, but then he was confronted by the strange mixed signals he got from her. He felt that he should not allow himself to feel like this now. It was simply too soon! How could he possibly feel like this unless he was allowing himself to act on a premonition alone? Was he starting to feel something purely on Predeterminism Theory?

He wanted to shout out in frustration, it was all so maddening! It was going to drive him absolutely insane thinking about her, but he simply could not stop. He suddenly shook his head and found a path of thinking that might help. _Never mind me_ he thought, _what about her? How does she feel about all this, about me? I've seen her icier disposition, but also a more tormented side, maybe there is something good in her that wants to show itself... Argh! What the hell am I thinking? I should just get on with my duty, surely that is all that matters? Gods damn it! I can't stop thinking about her, I... I..._

He awoke from his trail of thought to find a long time had passed. The sun had descended and now the stars in the sky were dotting the desolate blackness of the night sky. There was a deep, friendly light emanating from the Spire's roof's floor, and the tip of each wing blade above projected a little red light into the night. He had been up here for at least an hour and a half, and his HUD's clock told him it was getting on 9 pm. Damn, how could he lose track of time so badly. He was becoming far too sloppy now, he had to concentrate on his duty, it was always about his duty; always.

Bionics heard the sound of a lift arriving at the top of the Spire to the right of his throne. He turned slowly and saw Lien-Da make her way out and to the edge of the roof. She appeared not to have noticed him on his throne. She was still wearing her leather bodysuit as well. She paused for a moment, then inhaled deeply and passed her right hand through her hair. She looked out over the huge expanse of night blanketed land below her, but then wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

Bionics shook his head in exasperation. _Up here at night in those clothes, she's going to get hypothermia up here._ He soundlessly got up from the throne and walked to a point a metre behind her. "You know you should wear something warmer for coming up here at night" he said, bracing himself for the inevitable. Lien-Da jumped at the sound of him and whipped around with a surprised and angry look on her face.

"Bionics! Damn it, don't do that to me!"

"Alright, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" Bionics held out his hands palm first to her. "I'm just saying you shouldn't come up here wearing just that bodysuit; you'll freeze to death."

Lien-Da's expression softened and she turned back to face out over Mobius far below. Bionics walked up beside her and took in the view as well. "I assume that you are finding it hard to sleep."

"Yes, it's just... well... it's been quite a day. Last night I was looking up at the stars and praying for a miracle, and then you turn up and provide support while playing with our heads and you reveal you were friends with the one who caused this war in the first place, and then everything else. It's all so much to take in." She rubbed her forehead in irritation, then shivered again. Bionics sighed softly, removed his cloak from his back and gently wrapped it around Lien-Da. Despite being thin, he knew it had the capacity to keep her warm. After all, it did it for him. She gave him an appreciative smile and looked at him for a second before looking away again. Finally Bionics said "I tell you what, how would you feel about a hot drink, some hot chocolate perhaps?" Lien-Da gave him a strange look, but then nodded in acknowledgement.

Bionics reached out his hands and a plain white mug of steaming hot chocolate appeared in each of them. Lien-Da took one tentatively and enjoyed a grateful sip. She seemed to be invigorated by it and another smile, this one of satisfaction, crossed her lips. Bionics also took a sip of his and felt the warmth flow through him. Lien-Da then turned back to him with an accusing look about her.

"Why did you help us Bionics? Really, why did you help us?"

"I thought I had already told you why" Bionics said flatly. Lien-Da did not back down "I don't believe you. You and I both know you didn't really need us for the reasons you said no matter how you dress it up, so if you didn't need to help us then why did you?" Bionics paused for one agonising moment. If his power armour had had pockets he would have shoved his free hand in one by now. At last he said sheepishly "I helped you because you needed a miracle. I helped you because you desperately needed help. I always help those in need, I always help others when and where I can, that's just the way I think.

I don't see myself as that important, not when compared to the importance of the Multiverse, and those within it who do not know the peace we gods all strive for. There is another reason I helped you, but that has to be my little secret for now. I know you want to know what that reason is, but please, just trust me on this one. I will tell you when the time is right." Lien-Da did not seem completely satisfied by this answer simply due to the bit at end, but even so she seemed to have enough information to be going on. She nodded, and took another sip of hot chocolate. "Well, I suppose should thank you for all you've done for us. I may not be in charge and so can't say much for the Legion, but you've done us a great favour in helping us, and I for one will not forget that in a hurry."

Bionics smiled kindly, and then slowly drank the remainder of his hot chocolate. He turned to look Lien-Da and said "By the way, if you don't want it, could I have your lighter?" Lien-Da looked confused, "my lighter?"

"Your cigarette lighter; the one you have in your belt pouch." As the confused expression became one of astonishment he allowed a smirk to cross his face.

"How could you know about that?"

"I have my ways, but that doesn't matter. Unless you intend to take up the vulgar habit of smoking I wonder if I can keep the lighter." Lien-Da took this all in and, to Bionics at least, acted with incredible good grace. She simply reached into the pouch, took out the lighter and passed it to him without a word. He took it and examined it closely. "Simple and functional, the exemplar of machines at their best, I admire that. Thank you for the lighter, you can return the cloak in the morning, Kommissar."

As Bionics turned to go back to his throne Lien-Da said to him "Hey, Bionics?"

"Yes?"

He turned back to her as she finished her hot chocolate and put the mug on the roof's perimeter wall, where it disappeared it a flash. She looked into his eyes and said finally "Call me Lien-Da, okay?" Bionics stood there for a moment, then smiled once more and replied "As you wish." She gave him a return smile and then made her way back to the lifts. She got to one and stopped before turning around and calling out "oh, I don't know if you know but there's a crack in the glass of this lift."

Bionics closed his eyes, and a second later the crack mended itself. "Not anymore there's not." Lien-Da didn't say anything else. She just got in the lift and departed the roof for bed. Bionics walked up to his throne and sat back down, whereupon he felt a great sensation of clarity and contentment fill his soul. She had trusted him with her name, that meant he was getting somewhere with her. She felt something for him then just as he felt something for her. Maybe then it was okay to feel like this about her following just one day after all. He relaxed and leant back in his throne. Today had been a good day overall.

* * *

As she exited the lift and went back to her new bedroom, Lien-Da couldn't help but feel strangely good about things. She may not wholly embrace the idea of having emotional ties to Bionics, but still she felt she should at least open up a bit to him. He honestly cared about her so it seemed, about the whole Dark Legion as well, but it seemed she meant just a little bit more to him. She would have to see where all this would lead them both. She smiled as she reached her room. Today had been a good day overall.

* * *

Author's notes: This chapter has arrived quickly, as I was able to work my you-know-whats off on it all over the weekend. Mock GCSE's are getting in my way, but I still attempt to post this up for the few faithful readers I may have. Seriously, though, if you do read this, please review it. I need as much from the FanFiction community as is humanly possible. Thanks go out to brave kid for all his reviews so far, and also to MechBoyOfDoom for his. Next time, we will be meeting some of the well known and beloved good guys as they deliver 'The Republican Response' to our protagonists.


	8. Chapter 7: The Republican Response

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are the copyright of Sega and/or Archie comics. All previously stated characters and ideas of my own are still that way.

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Republican Response**

The rest of the night passed without much incident, and eventually the sun rose slowly over the eastern canyons housing the Battle Spire. Bionics still sat on his throne when he finally reacted to the dawn. _Day two... _was his only thought or reaction at first, but then he lost himself in staring at the blend of colours that the sunrise was. It was astonishingly beautiful, and it was another thing to love about being here, the sheer capacity for beauty in so many things.

He stood up and arched his back for a moment before walking slowly down the steps and across the roof to the lifts. He went back down to the dining hall and sat in his chair at the end of the table, where he waited silently. Eventually the Dark Legion filed in as he had anticipated and sat down as well for breakfast.

Plates and bowls appeared in front of them all and were filled with cereals and toast and all other manners of breakfasts. Bionics smiled as his customary bowl of honey nut corn flakes appeared before him, and he savoured every bite as though he had never eaten it before in his life. He also had a small cup of tea in a saucer beside him, with milk and sugar added, and he periodically sipped from it to wash his meal down.

Unlike the previous night's meal, apart from the general tumult of the Dark Legion's many conversations, not a single word was spoken between Bionics, Lien-Da or Dimitri. They had their respective breakfasts and then left to attend to other things.

For the most part of the morning the Dark Legion, including its leaders, spent some time in the Battle Spire's training simulators. These rooms were there to allow Bionics and his soldiers to test their merciless accuracy against simulated and sometimes real opponents. For the Dark Legion to use it, a lot of the simulations had to be scaled right down to more mortal levels at first.

Bionics watched as the Legion practiced old tactics and tested new ones in order to relearn their skills as they were aided by their technology enhancements. The power armour worn by the Legionnaires incorporated the robes and hoods that had marked their identity as a party, but showed the major tech upgrades that Bionics and his soldiers enjoyed. Soon the Legion was in simulations not far off from those his own soldiers practiced with.

He was duly impressed by their capabilities in combat, but he knew they would need rigorous training in order to reach the highest quality possible. He decided to make use of one of the simulator rooms to brush up on his sword skills. He activated the simulator, removed his energy katanas from his waist, and took a defensive stance.

A figure appeared and activated its own energy based sword, a simple longsword, and attacked him in a flurry. Bionics blocked and dodged its blows with grace. He slowed time around him and smiled to see that the training hologram, made of a special solid light, was made sluggish by this. He began slashing and stabbing it with lightning fast strikes aided by the slowed time. The apparition countered, but it could not keep up with Bionics. The energy katanas finally sliced the solid light hologram in half.

As the hologram disappeared, Bionics became aware he was being watched. He turned to see a few members of the Dark Legion gazing at him with rapt attention. Bionics held up one of his still ignited katanas. "Remember, always train and prepare for close combat. It is inevitable that it will happen, be it with swords or bayonets or axes or even just hands and feet, close combat is still a very common occurrence. Always bring a gun _and_ a knife to gun fight."

The Dark Legionnaires present took this in and then they came into the room to practice close combat techniques. Some of them used handheld swords both normal and energised, some did use energy based rifle bayonets, and some used special energy blades built into the knuckle plates of their gauntlets. Bionics watched and guided them as they practiced on robots and holograms and even themselves once they had got the hang of it...

* * *

Lien-Da was impressed with the training systems that Bionics had set up for the Legion. They were tough and demanding in almost all circumstances. It kept the soldiers on their toes, but they were still adaptive and were learning fast. Thanks to just an hour or two of simulation battles they had demonstrated that they were truly a force to be reckoned with now.

The simulations were incredibly realistic to boot, and brought each and every Legionnaire close to the prospect of death. They wouldn't really be killed of course, but it sure looked like it and in the simulations it sure felt like it. Lien-Da herself went into a few trials, both solo and with a team, and soon she was also picking up combat prowess in spades.

Eventually she tailed off and wondered through all the simulators at random. She found Bionics in one room showing Legionnaires advances close quarter battle strategies with swords and bayonets. She went in and Bionics turned around as they continued.

"Lien-Da, I'm glad you're here. The Dark Legion's ability to learn is astonishing, they've learned in two hours what would normally take days. The implants and bionics they have combined with the armour and weapons my armourers provided means they have truly become something elite!"

"That's good news, its good to see the Legion put through its paces a bit."

"Indeed, well as you can see I have taken the liberty of training some of your soldiers in close combat." Lien-Da nodded and looked on at the duelling soldiers. "Good, we've been defeated more times by close combat than I care to mention, at last we can at least fight back like that now."

Bionics turned to her and said "I see you're wearing your power armour for these exercises." Lien-Da looked down at her sleek black armour and said "Yes I am. I'll need it to keep up with the training, and with the soldiers." She then remembered something she had considered over breakfast and continued "I was thinking; since you've played the name game with the 'Dark Alliance' I was wondering. Do your soldiers have any specific name or title?" Bionics turned to her with a surprised little frown on his face.

"Do you know something? I honestly haven't, I never considered the need for it. Perhaps it would help for differentiation of soldiers in battle." Lien-Da nodded in agreement, and said "well I'm afraid I don't know that much about them so I can't name them suitably."

Bionics turned to face her fully and looked up in thought as he listed off some of his soldiers' aspects. "They are silent, faceless, they are very tough, they never age being robots, and they are large enough in number that if one should be destroyed another will simply take its place." She considered these for a moment, and the answer seemed to just enter her mind as though someone had planted it there, "how about 'Immortals' then?"

Bionics gave a sudden smile of curious excitement as he said "Immortals? Yes, I like that. Back in ancient history there was a group of soldiers called the Immortals as I recall. They were humans and they served an ancient and powerful empire. They numbered around ten thousand and had similar qualities to my soldiers. Immortals it shall be then." Bionics closed his eyes for about 30 seconds and when he opened them he said "the name has been transferred to all my soldiers now. They will behave as though they've been called it since they were created."

Lien-Da smiled with satisfaction at having swayed Bionics into something she had seen as good, even if it was very trivial. She continued to watch her Legionnaires practice CQB drills before they stopped and moved on a different training module elsewhere. Bionics and Lien-Da were on their own in the training room, and then Bionics looked around before saying "What say I teach you how to swordfight?"

"Swordfight, are you serious? I can use my whip well enough!" Lien-Da retorted defiantly. Bionics was nonplussed by this and said "yes, but a bullwhip is still no match against a proper sword or bladed weapon. It can be severed and then you will be without a weapon or any CQB capabilities. You did just say you've been bested by close combat too much anyway."

"Enough! I get the idea damn it!" Lien-Da shouted. She never did like finding fault with anything about herself and her methods, and even now she felt like Bionics had no place criticising her, but she still had to admit he was right.

Bionics himself had not been engaged by her outburst and just stared at her, which was more infuriating than if he had just shouted back. "If you do not want to learn how to survive, then so be it. I will not pressure you." Lien-Da felt she was being tested, toyed with, by him. Her frustration boiled all the hotter and she glared at him venomously.

"Fine, teach me how to swordfight then. I might as well get something out of it." She crossed her arms as she said this. Bionics smiled slowly, before moving into the centre of the training room. As she unfolded her arms and approached him he flipped out two empty katana hilts from behind his cloak. He ignited them with a faint electrical buzz and an equally faint hum of energy. The two energy katanas glowed green and were just over half of Bionics' size with the blades on. He closed his eyes for a second, and then the blades turned blue.

Bionics flashed the blades downwards towards the floor, where they met resistance and made the sound of an electric discharge. Lien-Da was surprised for a moment. "They don't pass through the floor?"

"Not at the moment they don't. The blades are currently made of a coherent form of energy, a solid form of energy, which behaves like a normal metal sword."

"Nice, at least we won't slice each other up so easily" Lien-Da sarcastically replied. Bionics now stood up a little straighter and his expression became harder "There is no need to be ungracious, Kommissar" Lien-Da felt the satisfaction of breaking through to him, but then her newfound conscience and good feelings forced her to feel guilty about it instead.

Bionics flipped one katana around, held it by its solidified energy blade, and held it out to her. She took it and found it was surprisingly weightless. Bionics loosened his grip on his katana and twirled it in his hand. He reasserted his grip on it and took up a defensive position. "Set internal fight skill to 'M Proficiency Skilled 1' and 'M Speed Skilled 1', compensating." Lien-Da had no idea what any of it was supposed to mean, but it sounded like he was downgrading his own performance to give her a fighting chance. She got a two handed grip on her katana and also took up a defensive stance. They stood perfectly still for 4 seconds. Bionics darted forward and brought his blade to hers, creating the sound of another electric discharge.

She held him off and then spun to strike a blow against his neck, which he parried effortlessly. She growled and then flew at him, katana raised high. He ducked low and pushed her further in her leap, causing her to roll as she landed. She spun on him as she was forced to block his new offensive. Bionics broke off, Lien-Da then snarled and charged. For the next 2 minutes they continued duelling and parrying and blocking blows against one another until Bionics caught Lien-Da in a sword lock and spun her weapon out of her hand. He brought his own blade up to her face and held it there. She appeared startled, but then recomposed herself for a moment. Bionic said coolly "Good stamina, good strong blows, but still you allowed yourself to become angry and avert your concentration. Your dexterity also needs some work-"

Lien-Da suddenly struck the ignited blade aside and punched him solidly in the stomach. While it didn't hurt him it did surprise him for a crucial few seconds. She leapt back at her own blade, brought it up and flew at him again, as she began reigning heavy blows down on him. He countered as best he could, but now she had adrenaline and focus both on her side. She was unrelenting and at last knocked his sword aside long enough to aim a stab at his chest. He dropped his sword and nimbly caught the blade between his hands before it could hit its mark.

They stopped and stood there, breathing heavily, as Bionics smiled. "Excellent, that's the most important rule of swordfighting: Fight dirty, use any underhanded trick available, and catch your opponent off guard. You do have some impressive skill, I will grant you that, but still think about what I said before. Work on maintaining your focus, do not allow emotion to overcome your senses, and also try and use dexterous styles of duelling, be unorthodox."

Lien-Da lowered the katana as Bionics released his grip on the energised blade, passed it back to him and returned the smile. He reached out his other hand and the second katana flew into it. He deactivated the blades, spun the hilts and placed them both back behind his cloak. "My advice to you, Lien-Da, is just to practice in here as much as possible."

"I'll keep your opinion in mind, Bionics" She said as her smile became a little warmer. He bowed his head and then he led her out of the training room and back to the rest of the Dark Legion. They both saw Dimitri practicing with his new body and inbuilt lasers on training robots in a room of his own. Lien-Da did see that there was a new flare in her ancestor now he could move and eat and do things that any normal person could and also fight and lead from the front lines effectively as well.

While they were watching him one of the newly christened Immortals marched up to Bionics and placed its fist on the left hand part of its chest. "My Lord, there are several contacts inbound to the Spire. One is travelling at speeds matched by yesterday's visitor."

* * *

As he heard this Bionics' ears pricked up and he said "Ah yes, that will be the Sonic of this universe and other members of the Republic of Acorn. No doubt they will want answers and to enter negotiations. We will meet with them at the bottom of the tower within the perimeter walls this time. Would you care to accompany me along with Dimitri?" He directed the question at Lien-Da who paused and asked in return "what about our secrecy, our desire to stay hidden from our enemies?"

Bionics frowned and said "the Republic is not your enemy is it?" Lien-Da paused awkwardly "...we have been in conflict before now, and our relationship is hardly on good terms."

"Oh, smashing" was Bionics' cynicism laced reply. This would make negotiations that little bit harder to succeed in their favour. No matter, he would just have to persevere with them.

He made his decision and said "I think it will be good then for both your factions to make a fresh start. Besides, the Dark Legion just wants peace at the moment, right?" Lien-Da gave another awkward pause, but then nodded despondently. Bionics grinned, called Dimitri out of the training room, explained the situation and within a minute they were waiting at the gates of the Spire's perimeter.

Just as the gates opened almost soundlessly, a great streak of blue light grew swiftly grew closer and stopped abruptly in front of them, causing a breeze to blow at the trio. Bionics and Dimitri didn't so much as twitch as this happened. Even Lien-Da barely gave a reaction to it. The blur instantly became a blue Hedgehog in his teens. He wore only white gloves, white socks and red sneakers with a white band running along the middle of each, held in place by a golden buckle. He stood quite upright and had a cheeky grin crossing his face.

This was Sonic the Hedgehog, the Prime version, and he was in keeping with Bionics' original image of what Scourge should have been. He had the same winning grin, but his teeth were normal, they weren't all pointed like fangs. He exuded confidence, but not arrogance, and he had a certain laid back look about him. When he spoke, Bionics was actually unsurprised that it sounded almost the exact same as Scourge's, but had less of a darker edge.

"Wow! I thought just the tower alone would surprise me, but seeing the Dark Legion have beaten us to it, that's got my attention as well." Sonic looked up at the dizzying height of the tower, then around the metallic perimeter interior, then at Bionics. He froze for a fleeting moment as he took in the artificial eye and arm before carrying on "I don't believe I've had the pleasure, mister?"

Bionics swept forward and held out his mechanical arm as he replied "Indeed not, my name is Bionics." Sonic shook the hand, but after a moment of consideration. "Interesting, you sound similar to Eggman with that accent."

"Do I?" Bionics asked intrigued, "I had no idea. Well I do know of him but am not affiliated with him; I serve a much higher power. You of course are Sonic the Hedgehog, correct?" Sonic seemed to be taken aback by this "Hey, how d'you know my name?" Bionics smiled knowingly and tapped the side of his nose. "I have my methods, Sonic. I know nearly everything about this planet and its history. But never mind that now, I think we should wait for the rest of your group to arrive before I answer your questions." So they did.

It took roughly a minute for the rest of the Republic of Acorn's emissary party to arrive, and when it did it was via a blue and yellow biplane and a matte green, smooth surfaced transport truck. Bionics noted with mild humour that it bore some resemblance to the old Earth 'Willis Jeep'. The biplane looped around the Spire before landing on the metal surface of the interior space 10 feet from the group.

The pilot, a young yellow-orange fox, hopped out of the cockpit and walked up to Sonic's side. What caught Bionics' attention was that he had an extra tail, a pair of thick, bushy tails. He was also, despite being a capable pilot, only about 11 or so years old. Bionics was fascinated by this, but also knew that more important things than his curiosity had to be dealt with.

The truck pulled up just inside the gates and then three more Mobians got out and walked up to the rest of them. They consisted of a male coyote with blonde, well groomed hair, a military dress uniform and a sabre at his side, a female rabbit with cybernetic legs and left arm dressed in an old western style jacket and hat with a pair of revolvers around her waist on a belt with spare bullets in pouches, and a female squirrel-chipmunk crossbreed with thick dark auburn hair, a pair of blue boots and a blue collared jacket.

When they got there they also had a good look up and around, then at Bionics, then the Dark Legion's Leaders beside him. It was quite strange for all of them to have to look up slightly to stare at him face to face. The crossbreed stepped forward and spoke first, with a degree of calm and authority. "I am Princess Sally Acorn. These people are Antoine D'Coolette, Bunnie D'Coolette, Miles Prower, and-"

"And Sonic the Hedgehog" Bionics finished for her. Sally went silent and seemed just as puzzled about his knowledge as Sonic had been. Bionics placed his right leg back a step and gave a low bow of respect. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your Highness, my name is Bionics." Princess Sally recovered herself and continued "we are here as an emissary to the Republic of Acorn, we are here to engage in negotiations and ask you some questions."

Bionics smiled and said "very well, ask me what you will." Sonic immediately stepped forward and got in there before the Princess, "First things first 'Bionics', who the heck are you?" Bionics turned to him, smile fading away, and answered "I am a god, specifically a god of machines, and a servant of the highest power in the Multiverse." Sonic went on "and who is the highest power in the Multiverse?"

"My master, the Great Creator of All Things Holy, he is the one responsible for pretty much the creation of everything save for things tainted and corrupt."

After that Princess Sally resumed her position in the dialogue and asked "Okay, you have Lien-Da of the Dark Legion with you, but who is that?" She pointed at Dimitri, who was obviously upgraded beyond recognition. Bionics chuckled softly "That, your Highness, is Grandmaster Dimitri. I upgraded him and gave him a new body that he might be able to do normal, organic things; walk, eat, sleep and fight. I have upgraded all of the Dark Legion's various implants and cybernetics to beyond mortal boundaries." Sally nodded then pressed on "Why is the Dark Legion here with you?"

"Because they needed help, they were at the point of crisis. I believe _you_ may have had something to do with that." Despite the allegation the Republic's emissaries were somewhat untroubled by it as now the coyote 'Antoine' spoke next, saying "what exactly eez your purpose here?" Bionics' ears pricked up as he heard Antoine had a French accent to his voice.

"To bring peace to the planet" Bionics then shifted his voice into a flawless French accent of his own as he said "_Je n'ai pas su que vous avez parlé cette langue._" Antoine also perked up at Bionics' talent and replied "_Ni l'un ni l'autre n'out fait, bon monsieur._" Bionics beamed and bowed at him as well. A short pause followed before eventually it was Bunnie D'Coolette's turn to say something, with a 'Deep South' accent.

"So why didn't y'all just come to us? We're the ones at war here." Bionics folded his arms and his expression became a little sour "I did not know anything about this planet until after I had discovered the Legion, they were the closest faction to me so it made sense to contact them first, and as I said before they were in dire need of some assistance. They have been whittled down by this war of yours, and I still have no evidence to suggest that you yourselves were not responsible for some of those attacks."

Sonic waved his hand at Dimitri and Lien-Da as if to show them up while saying "Hey, it's not our fault if they see fit to put themselves in our way..."

"That's rich coming from you!" Lien-Da was suddenly striding forward and poking Sonic in the chest, a wild, angry look in her eyes. "You always throw yourself into a fight without regard for safety. You never take these things seriously-"

"Enough!" Bionics broke the pair apart and put himself in their lines of sight, holding up his hands to block their way. "Enough, this bickering achieves nothing. I should not have brought up such a sensitive topic, and I apologise for it. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, yes I helped the Dark Legion. They now enjoy armour, weapons and equipment befitting those of my own soldiers, the Immortals, but they are still a small group. I am their ally and protector for the remainder of this conflict at least. We are the Dark Alliance, and as long as we exist we strive for the end of this war."

Bionics turned to face the Dark Legion's leaders and said "Will you allow me to speak on your behalf? You may not like what you hear." He was pleased to see both of them nod in consent and then he turned back to the group of Republicans.

* * *

Lien-Da had managed to control herself after the hedgehog had insulted and shown complete disregard for the Legion's situation, and had decided to go along with Bionics when he asked to conduct the next phase of the negotiations.

Suddenly she felt her head fill with a strange sensation, a sense of déjà vu, as though something was about to happen she had seen before. As she continued to watch, she realised with disbelief that the negotiations in front of her were one of the tableaus she had seen in the fire in her bedroom; the scene of all those Mobians debating and discussing had become real.

She suddenly felt very cold inside. If this event had just taken place, would all the others do the same? The swordfight, the battle, the kiss, and Bionics screaming in wrath, would they all happen as well. She pondered this as Bionics turned back to face the emissary party.

* * *

"As far as we are concerned, your goals and standing are the more just and worthy, so we will offer you our assistance as needed. For now at least, you may consider the Dark Alliance your friend in this war. Scourge and his invasion must be stopped as soon as possible. Our soldiers, tanks, aircraft and services are at your disposal."

Bionics saw that all of the emissaries were stunned. So much had just happened in but a few minutes, they seemed at a loss as to what to say next. Eventually Sonic decided to plough ahead. "What, just like that? No catch or trick up your sleeve that you'll pull on us or something?" Bionics showed mock offence as he said "I am a god of my word, I do not break the promises I make, Sonic, and although it may seem quite unreal for all this to happen at once, it is real. I will help you win this war with Scourge as best I can, I give you my word."

And that, it seemed to all, was that. The major negotiations had been cleared but still questions were apparent. The princess, ever serious, decided to test Bionics. "Okay Bionics, you say you're a god, and you did bring this tower of yours here overnight along with your 'soldiers, tanks and aircraft', but I want some proof of your power that will benefit us." Bionics rubbed his chin thoughtfully and turned his eyes skyward as he thought. Then he stopped, muttered "I suppose that might work..." and looked at Sally with a lit up face. "I don't suppose that you have an Artificial Intelligence of some description, do you?"

Sally showed another look of surprise, she obviously hadn't expected him to know or guess something like that. "Yes, we do have an A.I. with us. NICOLE is responsible for maintaining our capital city, New Mobotropolis, including parts of its security systems and defence as well."

"Okay, now if I can just lock on to her energy signature and frequency... Ahhhh, there it is. Interesting... holographic body and has control over a force of nanites. Let just create some of those built into the Spire's superstructure... done. Now I just need to apply a signal node to my Battle Spire's vicinity and systems, and 'NICOLE'..." Bionics closed his eyes in concentration, a small buzzing noise surrounded them, and then suddenly something began building up out of nothing in front of Bionics. "...Will be able to project herself here" that something continued to form up and became NICOLE's physical avatar.

Bionics saw she took the form of a chocolate coloured lynx with black fur on her hands, feet and the tips of her long ears. She wore a form fitting purple sari with thin, diagonal black lines running across it. She had long, shiny, black hair which was swept to the right side of her face at the front and grew to neck length at the back. Bionics could also see some of the hair at the back was being held away by a group of orange and pink beads to form a pair of long plaits. She looked like she belonged in Ancient Greece back on old Earth.

NICOLE seemed surprised to be there at first, then spotted the Republic's diplomatic group and said "Princess, how exactly was I able to reach you here?" Sally pointed at Bionics and replied "You need to ask him for that answer." NICOLE turned and faced Bionics now. "You are the one who brought this tower here, I take it?" Bionics took a step forward as he said "Indeed I am. My name is Bionics, and it is a pleasure to meet you, NICOLE." Because she had a physical body formed of microscopic nanites, he was able to take hold of NICOLE's right hand. He held it up in front of his face and kissed it like a true gentleman. Although he didn't see it, behind him the edge of Lien-Da's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. NICOLE was pleasantly stunned by Bionics' action, simulated a blush and smiled graciously at him. "Wow, you do know how to flatter someone." Bionics gently released her hand and said "what can I say? I have a great respect for the machines I watch over. I am a god of machines, and I always feel even artificial things have a certain beauty to them."

NICOLE allowed this to hang in the air for a moment longer before becoming serious again "Well, back to my original question, how am I able to materialise here?" Bionics also became serious again and gave his answer "I was able to trace your energy signature, the thing that individualises each and every machine in the Multiverse, and apply a sympathetic frequency generator to my Battle Spire, which means now you and your nanites can materialise here whenever you so desire. This is beneficial to both of us as it allows us to communicate with each other instantly in any circumstances."

Out of the 9 people assembled there, only 3 of them totally, 100% understood what Bionics had said about the 'how' of it, Bionics himself, NICOLE, and Miles Prower. The rest of them just looked on dumbfounded. NICOLE seemed to be impressed by this, "Excellent strategy, it will be of great use to both our forces. Now if you will excuse me I will return to my duties in New Mobotropolis." She disappeared in an instant, leaving only an empty space.

Princess Sally nodded in satisfaction and said "Well that proves you have divine prowess, it seems, and you have helped us in a small way. I speak for the Republic when I say we are grateful for your support of us Bionics." Bionics nodded in return "I'm glad I could be of assistance to you all, and now I think our business is concluded now. You may go now and return to your capital."

They all turned and prepared to leave, but before they could actually do that a deafening explosion sounded from the other side of the Spire and the ground shuddered violently, causing everyone to stagger or fall to the ground. Bionics got up and spun around to see the sky above them become dirty green in colour with black lines lacing it. He already knew what it meant, but one of his Immortals sprinted up to him and said "my Lord, a void rift has opened a half mile from here and Diabolus' forces are making their way through."

* * *

Author's notes: Sorry for the slow update, but I did have my French oral GCSE to do during this time period. (Funny that I should have French orals and also have French in this particular chapter... Coincidence?) Anyway, it is up and I hope you all enjoy it. Before you ask, yes, the Immortals are based off the ones used in the ancient Persian Empire, going with Spartans would have been a bit too generic, and the Immortals (the real ones, not the ones from _300_) have always fascinated me. With regards to NICOLE, I can never find out definitively if she is a hologram or whether her nanites afford her a physical body, so I just chose the latter. Besides, at the Spire she can have a physical form anyway. Well, I'll leave you on this cliffhanger and see how long you can wait until Bionics has to consider 'The Highest Priority' in chapter 8.


	9. Chapter 8: The Highest Priority

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are still copyright of Sega and/or Archie comics, last I checked. All my characters and ideas are still my own and as original as one can be in this modern age.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Highest Priority**

Bionics eyes widened in fear and his heart spiked with adrenaline, his voice now had a slightly panicked tone. "Has Diabolus himself made it through?"

"No, my Lord, the rift is very small, only some of his blasphemous forces of undead have made it through, but they could spread his taint to this planet."

"Creator have mercy!" Bionics knew he had to act fast. Suddenly his priorities had shifted dramatically. He had to cleanse this outbreak and seal the void rift before it grew and let the Ultimate Evil into the material realm.

He turned to see the confused, scared and questioning faces of everyone else around him. "Circumstances have changed for the worse. The Ultimate Evil, the Multiverse's greatest threat, is attempting to enter the material realm here on Mobius. My priority is to ensure he fails in doing so. I have to cleanse away his filth now or this planet will be lost." He closed his eyes for a moment and sent a telepathic order to the fighter-bomber squadrons in the hangers below him for them to make themselves ready for the task of carpet bombing the area of the void rift.

He opened his eyes and looked at the assembled Republicans with a sad but serious expression. "I am afraid you cannot leave here until I have dealt with this problem, it is too dangerous outside the Spire, and you would not survive." The main gates sealed themselves rapidly and a deep, booming alarm sounded as though in response to his words. The Republic emissaries all looked at each other, then turned back to Bionics and nodded in unified agreement.

Bionics himself turned and began to walk in the direction of the rift, but Lien-Da ran beside and grabbed his arm. "If you're going out there, I'm going with you." Bionics shook his head gravely, and as he did the floor beyond them on the other side of the Spire's perimeter opened up. "I can't let you do that, it is too risky for you." Dimitri also stepped up to her "I agree, and besides you cannot go unless I give you leave to-"

"Try and stop me, both of you" Lien-Da fired back at them defiantly. Dimitri stood there staring at her for a full 5 seconds before grudgingly saying "fine, but you look after yourself." Bionics also consented but warned her "the slightest hint of fatal danger to you and I send you back here, understood?" Lien-Da nodded almost impatiently. Bionics turned back to see several of his VTOL fighter-bombers rise up out of the subterranean hangers and onto the perimeter's metal surface.

Their engines flared up and soon they were hovering over Bionics' position. The defence turrets all the way up the Spire and along the perimeter walls and towers woke up and scanned the surrounding area on high alert. Immortals and snipers took up positions on the towers as well, and a company of 100 Immortals stood in front of Bionics ready for battle.

Bionics readied his energy katanas, his pistol and all the weapons built into his mechanical arm before making his combat helmet appear and his cloak disappear. He put the helmet on and then turned to See Lien-Da do the same. She had her trusty whip at her side as well as one of the laser pistols from his armoury. All of the laser weapons he had provided the Dark Legion with fired a red bolt of energy instead of the green used by his soldiers, and he knew Lien-Da's would be no exception.

He turned back to his soldiers and shouted out "Now my Immortals let us purify these abominations in holy fire and light! Eradicate them all!" A great synthetic roar rose from the Immortals in response to this, a harsh, grating, terrifying battle cry. They activated and charged their rifles and slammed their fists over their hearts before resuming control of their weapons. Bionics smiled under his helmet, then held up his hands, turned his face down, concentrated, and then he, Lien-Da and his 100 soldiers vanished in a massive cloud of bright pale blue light.

* * *

The first feelings Lien-Da had felt when the crisis had started was one of alertness, then that had quickly changed into determination, and now she felt a strange tingling of fear crawl up her spine. Things had suddenly become a lot scarier, mostly because they had no idea what was really going on. Bionics' talk of the 'Ultimate Evil' and 'Diabolus' had caught her attention.

It seemed Diabolus was the Ultimate Evil, very much like some kind of demon. The fact that he even made a god like Bionics fearful gave her a great deal more concern. As he had made his soldiers ready she had checked her new laser pistol was working properly and that her whip was ready at her side. She had placed on her combat helmet and saw the familiar HUD light up in front of her eyes.

Bionics had shouted out a pre-battle speech like some sort of zealot, his Immortals had roared in response and he had teleported them all away to a place close to the 'void rift'. This was the first time she had ever teleported like this, and it was just weird. There was just a flash of cyan light and when t cleared they were somewhere else, somewhere new, out above the canyons that led to the Spire.

Upon arriving on the elevated ridges, Bionics immediately began issuing commands to his men. "Right, split into ten groups of ten and spread out from here. Try to contain the hordes of undead and form a perimeter to hold them back until the fighter-bombers arrive. They will can carpet bomb and incinerate the ground they have defiled to ensure no taint remains. Once that's done I can attempt to close the rift and finish this. All of you go!"

The Immortals quickly split into 10 sets of 10 and ran off into the distance. Bionics drew his katana hilts in both hands and spun them in circles around his palms. One half of each hilt folded in to itself as he did so. He then slammed the halves together where, amazingly, they stuck and formed a single hilt. He lowered the hilt in his left hand and ignited it. A 4 foot long purple blade erupted from it, surprising Lien-Da by the length of it. The whole sword was bigger than Bionics by a clear foot.

He drew his pistol in his right hand and indicated for her to follow him as he charged off after his soldiers. As she followed him she found that the power armour allowed her to run for as long as she liked without even a hint of fatigue. She decided to get some answers from Bionics. As they ran she asked him "perhaps now you would like to tell me just what the hell's going on?" Bionics turned his head to look at her as they ran on, sighed, and said "as you heard, some of the forces of the Ultimate Evil have made their way onto the planet; me and my soldiers have to stop them no matter what."

"Just what or who is this 'Ultimate Evil', Bionics?" Lien-Da continued with exasperation in her voice. Bionics' reply was also laced with ire, as he seemed to have no time for answers yet. "The Ultimate Evil is 'Diabolus the infinitely-damned'. He was a servant of the Great Creator's until he became corrupt and my master was forced to banish him to the void, the no-space, hell if you like. We gods have been ensuring he does not escape ever since.

He has made countless attempts to make his way back to material space, and he is responsible for creating Chaos Tainted and the undead to act as his servants. They enter reality through void rifts like the one ahead, spread across a planet and, if left unchecked spreads a physical taint to that planet. We then have to destroy the whole world to ensure Diabolus himself cannot make his way through the rift. Normally we can close the rift and contain his dark forces quickly enough to prevent harm to the material realm however."

Lien-Da took this in as they started up a small ridge. The sound of rapid laser fire from beyond began and grew louder. "So, you're here on Mobius simply because-"

"Because we believe Diabolus has gathered enough strength to make his way into reality from here" Bionics said grimly "and my primary duty here is to stop him. If I don't, the Multiverse could fall to his advance, and he could take the Diamond Alpha. He would kill my master and the Multiverse will be in eternal darkness."

Lien-Da was both horrified and livid at what Bionics was telling him. She grabbed his arm to stop him, and he turned to face her as he holstered his pistol put his hand to his helmet's facemask, waited for the helmet to retract, and then ripped the mask off. His face showed bitter determination and impatience, but also sympathy for her as he placed the mask on his waist. She said angrily "why didn't you tell us this before? Couldn't you trust your own allies enough to tell us the main reason for your coming here?"

"It's not like that, Lien-Da!" Bionics suddenly shouted at her, before lowering his voice again. "My master requires secrecy for his security and the security of the Multiverse. I can't simply tell you all these things, I want to so very much, but I just can't. It could compromise Him and all his work. I know you feel betrayed by me because of this, but please just trust me and wait until I've dealt with this emergency."

Lien-Da sighed and nodded in resignation. Bionics smiled his warm, compassionate smile before spinning on his heels, taking up his pistol again and running further up the ridge. She followed him to the edge, took in the scene beyond and almost threw up inside her helmet.

Beyond them was a scene of decay, taint, dark energy and writhing, rotting flesh. Below their ridge in a massive crater caused by the void rift's explosive arrival were hundreds of rasping zombies with baleful, yellow glowing eyes. Most were human by origin, all were humanoid at least, and some very sadly seemed to be Mobian. They moaned in the generic zombie manner, but moved with a certain speed and agility. Their skin was often stretched taut and even ripped in areas, while some had innards or brains exposed for the world to see. They moved like some unstoppable force, and around the edges of the crater, Bionics' Immortals played the immovable object to counter them.

Lien-Da began to reach for her helmet, but Bionics held up his left hand to stop her as his nose wrinkled. "You don't want to take that off. The stench is almost unbearable without air filters." Lien-Da's hand snapped back down, and then she looked at him with fear in her voice. "What the hell are these things?"

"Undead" Bionics said with a disgusted tone, "one of the most sickening perversions of nature ever conceived. Reanimated corpses forced to the will of Diabolus, serving as tenacious cannon fodder, they're hard to kill too. Shoot one anywhere but the head and they just keep on coming at you." Bionics aimed his pistol at one and fired. The roar of the gunpowder weapon was muffled by the sound dampeners of Lien-Da's helmet, but the flash of yellow-white from the barrel was clearly visible. A split second after he fired the head of one undead burst apart and sprayed gore across the ground and its comrades.

"If you do shoot them in the head, however..." Bionics continued with a little wry smile "... then they're easily dealt with." He jumped down from the ridge to the crater's edge with his soldiers and emptied his remaining bullets into the hordes of undead below him. Lien-Da jumped down after him and started picking off various zombies with her own pistol. Bionics holstered his pistol and swept his energy nodachi in front of him, decapitating a dozen of the fetid monsters at once.

He leapt into the mass of putrid flesh to wreak havoc upon the undead from within. This left Lien-Da with the Immortals to make sure no zombies escaped the confines of the shallow crater. Every one of them hit by a laser bolt disintegrated into dust, but then another simply took its place. She watched as several zombies overwhelmed one Immortal, bore it to the ground and began to hack away at its armoured body.

It let out a warbling, screeching howl as its chest was penetrated, before the other Immortals turned their rifles on the undead pinning their late brother-in-arms and vaporised them all. Despite this, the soldier caught by the zombies was already 'dead' and promptly vanished in a flash to be returned to the Spire. "Bionics, these undead are about to overwhelm us!" Lien-Da cried out into the hordes. "We need help!" Out of nowhere, Bionics leapt back to her side and summoned a fresh pistol clip from thin air. He reloaded his pistol and began picking off the few zombies that got too close for comfort.

"Fighter-bomber squadrons one through three, fly over the void rift now and provide containment support. Use incendiary bombs and clear the crater out."

"Acknowledged, Lord" was the reply through the comm. systems of Lien-Da's helmet. "Everyone pull back and take cover now!" Bionics re-holstered his pistol, grabbed her by her left wrist and ran with her to an alcove beneath the ridge they had been on but a few minutes before.

She turned around with Bionics and continued to keep the zombies at bay until the bombing run commenced. The rush of adrenaline, coupled with the tension of the moment, meant that all the sound around her became barely audible. She looked up to see the fighter-bombers cruise overhead, their engines lighting up the dirty green and black sky like angels. She clearly heard over the radio the 3 squadron leaders say in unison "Lord Bionics, we are commencing our run".

Lien-Da watched as they stopped in mid-flight, turned back around to face the crater again, and then soared low over it. Hangar bay doors opened underneath each one and great streaks of fire rocketed out of them. The incendiary bombs connected with the ground and spread white-hot fire among the foul zombies like medicine injected to cure a disease.

The zombies howled as they burned and turned to dust, and most of them had been swept up in the fires. Only a few stragglers on the very edges survived, and soon the Immortals were mopping them up. Above them, the fighter-bombers swung around again to inspect the damage they had inflicted. Without warning a black beam of dark energy flew from the void rift and struck one of the flyers. It exploded in mid-air and showered bits of metal everywhere.

"Damn it!" Bionics said as he growled in frustration as three more unlucky planes were shot down. The rest of the fighter-bombers turned tail and retreated to the Spire. Then suddenly Bionics stood up, closed his eyes and brought his hands over the Creator's Diamond shard in his armour's chest piece. There was a great flash of gold light, and then Bionics stood there in a form almost totally unrecognisable to Lien-Da.

His entire body was now shiny purple metal, even his head, and his armour had integrated itself with him to _become_ his body. Both his eyes were robotic now, and his mouth had vanished. His body was covered in glowing golden curved lines from head to foot, and a massive pair of shining, silver wings had sprouted from his back. When he spoke, his voice was there, but so was a soothing robotic monotone. "Stay here, and stay safe" was all he said to her before charging off and flying up to the void rift.

The rift resembled a giant, demonic eyeball with pulsating dirty green light contrasted with midnight black. It crackled with strange energy around the edges like lightning in cascades, and in the centre seemed to be a great rip. It made it look like the eye had had a blade slash for a pupil, creating a terrible wound which bled dark energy.

Bionics flew over it, hovered there, holstered his nodachi and pistol, and brought his two index and middle fingers close together. Lien-Da could just see a small bolt of white lightning flash between them before Bionics slammed the fingers together. The lightning was caught and became a ball of pure white energy which grew rapidly in his hands. In seconds he was using both his whole hands to contain its power as it reached the size of a beach ball.

Still it grew, and as it did black arcs of the dark energy tried to strike Bionics down, but an energy barrier of his held it off. Finally, with the energy blob the size of a truck, Bionics launched it into the void rift with a grunt of effort. As it flew tendrils of energy remained at his hands which pulsed alarmingly with energy, and he fired beams of energy into the giant ball as well to keep it going. Lien-Da saw that the golden lines on his bodies were flickering and fading.

_The effort of just closing this rift is weakening him!_ She realised with a sharp intake of breath. The ball of 'light' energy had hit the void rift and gone into it, where it had seeded itself quickly and then, as she watched on, it imploded violently. It sucked in on itself, taking the void rift with it. Bionics released the energy tendrils and beams from his hands, then sagged in mid-air and half fell, half glided down into the crater.

His wings closed around him and the feathers came off and flew apart. When they cleared, it showed Bionics as normal, panting for breath. He recomposed himself before looking up to see Lien-Da in front of him and flashed his kindly smile. She smiled as well under her helmet as he began to make his way back towards her. It was as he got towards the lip of the crater's edge that she saw a shadow shift behind him and become some great black demon. Before she had time to warn him, it made a sudden stabbing movement with its left arm.

A wicked, serrated black blade burst from Bionics' sternum at the centre of his ribcage. His smile contorted into an abrupt, warbling, pixellated shout of agony as his eyes widened with shock and his hands grasped at the infernal stabbing limb. It was an actual limb, it was in fact a part of the demon who had done the deed; a blade for an arm. The demon howled in triumph as it raised Bionics off his feet to face the sky and slide him further down the serrated weapon. Bionics gritted his teeth and screwed his eye shut, but then opened his mouth again to cry out. No sound emerged. It was so excruciating for him now that he couldn't even scream out loud.

"BIONICS!" Lien-Da cried out in shock and she burst from cover and charged towards him. Laser fire from the remaining Immortals peppered the demon, causing it to slide the stricken god off the blade and to the ground. As she ran forward she screamed with rage and fired her pistol into the open mouth of the roaring demon. The blood red energy bolts passed through the demon's skull and brain and then out the other side. It howled in pain, then collapsed and hit the ground like a rag doll. The sky above returned to being blue again, and the sun shone down on them all.

Lien-Da tossed her pistol away and ran up to Bionics' side. He was lying on his back with his eyes still shut tight, he was clutching the gaping puncture in his sternum and his breathing was ragged and gasping. His blood was golden, and it had a strange glowing aura of the same colour to it as it soaked his chest and seeped into the dirt beneath him. She kneeled quickly beside him and stared in horror at the wound. "Oh dear sweet Aurora, Bionics, talk to me! Come on, talk to me damn it!" Bionics rolled over and coughed violently, blood sprayed from his mouth as he did so. Tears of pain fell from his organic eye as he managed to force out "L... Lien-Da... I... argh!" before he choked on his blood and had to cough up again.

Lien-Da removed her helmet and looked into his eyes with fear. "For Aurora's sake, Bionics, just hold on!" She didn't know what else to do, so she grasped his free hand, his organic hand, in hers and squeezed it gently to try and keep him responsive. The Immortals began to gather around the pair and two of them knelt down beside their master. They placed their fists over their hearts and then laid the hand flat over his chest.

Lien-Da had no idea what they were doing, but after a moment a strange blue energy passed from the Immortals' hands into Bionics. As they finished everything of theirs above the waist powered down and they stopped moving. Bionics gritted his bloodstained teeth together in effort and she watched in fascination as the blue energy the Immortals had passed to him gathered around the stab wound and began to knit the broken tissue and organs back together. His blood began to dissipate or flow back inside of his body until none of it was isible anymore.

Bionics' expression seemed to relax slightly as the healing energy did its work, his breathing regulated a bit and the pained aspects of his face loosened up. Soon the job was done, and where the wound had been now looked untouched...

* * *

Bionics now let out a sigh of exhaustion as he slumped back to the ground. The effort of sealing the rift, the shock and the damage done by that accursed demon and the energy provided by his soldiers and used up to heal himself had drained him of all his physical strength. He could not move until he regained some stamina. The place where the wound had been still stung like a bastard, but that would fade with time.

He became aware that Lien-Da was still clutching his hand quite tightly. He gave a gentle return squeeze to let her know he was okay. He sat up slowly, gasped a deep breath in, and then looked at his two inactive Immortals. He carefully waved his hand at them and they came back to life, their faces rose and they stood up again with their rifles primed.

He looked at Lien-Da at his side and felt a wash of familiarity overcome him. He nodded at her and smiled gratefully. She smiled back and then helped to pull him onto his feet. He stood uneasily for a moment, then said "Thank you, I think... I'll be... okay." He tried to take a few steps forward with Lien-Da watching, but then staggered and began to fall. As he did she reached out and grabbed his arm to try and support him, but instead he just succeeded in dragging her down with him.

Bionics landed on his back with a thump, and Lien-Da landed on top of him. They both lay there face to face staring at each other in surprise. Bionics didn't say a word, he just gazed into her eyes for a while as though mesmerised. He found himself thinking in that moment that her eyes were actually quite beautiful, and it may have just been him, but they seemed to have a certain twinkle to them that hadn't been there before. He could feel her warm breath against his face, and in that close moment he felt totally scatterbrained.

Eventually, however, he woke up from his trail of thought and recovered his power of speech. "I... I'm dreadfully sorry Lien-Da, I... I didn't mean to..." was all he could manage to fluster. Lien-Da also seemed to come to her senses and replied "no, no, it's perfectly fine. There's no need to be sorry, I just..." she trailed off as well. All the while they hadn't taken their eyes away from each other. It was an agonisingly awkward moment for the pair of them, and neither one really knew how to react best to it.

At last, Lien-Da slowly got up off of him, stood up straight and dusted her power armour off. Bionics did likewise, but then inspected the sparking hole in his armour where the demonic blade had gone through. He sighed softly, passed his open hand over it from the front and the back, and when he did the armour was repaired. He looked around to see his Immortals all staring at them, and he could sense their curiosity. "Yes?" he asked defensively. The Immortals all stood to attention and gripped their weapons tighter. "My lord" they said in daunting unison, "we lost ten of our number as well as the four fighter-bombers in that engagement."

Bionics rubbed his face with both hands and groaned in displeasure. "Gods damn it. All right, losses were higher than expected but lower than gives cause for concern. All the remains have been returned to the Spire for repair or passing rituals. We are returning there now." He closed his eyes and then they were transported back to the Spire's interior perimeter.

As they returned Lien-Da grabbed Bionics' attention before he had a chance to walk off and said "I didn't know you could say that."

"Say what?"

"'Gods damn it'. I didn't think gods could curse like that." Bionics nodded, oddly enough, to contradict her. "Oh yes, we can use ourselves to curse if we want. We gods are not that scrupulous about things like that. Besides, it's not as if cursing is actually going to upset any of the gods, they don't mind and they don't often know that their name has been 'taken in vain' at all."

"I see" Lien-Da said in understanding. Bionics then continued to the inside of the perimeter wall, where Sonic and the other Republicans had chosen to wait. As he walked up to them they all half surrounded him as they waited for him to speak. When he stopped he said "The matter has been dealt with, you are all free to leave now." Princess Sally stepped forward again and said "thank you Bionics, but we have one more question now." Bionics seemed mainly nonplussed by this "very well."

"What in the name of Aurora just happened?" Sally asked without a hint of irony. Bionics' face became grim as he gave his answer. "What just happened, your Highness, was that the Multiverse's greatest threat tried to break into reality from here on Mobius and I stopped him in accordance with my primary objective here. I had to contain an outbreak of undead and then cleanse and burn the area around where the void rift, which is what the Ultimate Evil tried to use to pass into the material realm, was located before I sealed said rift. I succeeded at the cost of ten of my soldiers, four of my fighter-bombers and a stab wound to my sternum."

The look in the eyes of several of the people there present gave off a clear signal. They could see quite clearly that Bionics' patience had now worn very thin. Sally however was not going to be cowed by his sudden lack of serenity and said "There's no need to talk to us like that." Bionics stiffened, and then relaxed himself a bit. His stature seemed to diminish slightly and he gave an apologetic look.

"You are right, I'm sorry, I'm just in a foul mood from where I was injured. You shouldn't have to suffer for that. Anyway, as you now know my primary duty here is not to help bring peace to this planet, but to prevent the Ultimate Evil 'Diabolus' from entering reality. I hope that no further incursions will be attempted while I assist you, otherwise I may have to abandon you temporarily to deal with him."

"Don't worry, we understand" Sally said considerately. "Our negotiations are now concluded, it would seem you are very reasonable for a deity. Thank you for having us." She walked forward and held out her hand. Bionics took it gently and shook it. Organic met mechanical, soft skin and fur met cold, silver metal. It looked like Bionics might crush Sally's hand in his own. Bionics smiled pleasantly and said "it was a pleasure to meet you all. Good day."

With that, the Republic emissaries left the Spire. Sally, Antoine and Bunnie all got back into their truck and drove out of the now open main gates. Sonic and his fox companion made their way to the biplane. Bionics went over as well and inspected it. It was blue and yellow, and seemed quite sleek and dynamic with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. The fox, Miles, caught Bionics and said "you like the Tornado?"

"Yes, I do" Bionics said without taking his eyes off the plane "I am greatly fascinated by new machines I encounter. You must be quite the genius to be able to maintain and pilot this thing." Miles smiled bashfully and said "Well, it's nothing really when compared to what you have, mister."

"Please, call me Bionics" said Bionics, now turning to face the fox. "What was your name again? Miles Prower wasn't it?" The fox nodded "yes, that's right, but you can call me Tails. Everyone else does."

"Really, okay then, Tails. No points for guessing where that nickname comes from" Bionics said his eyes turned to the fox's pair of bushy tails. Tails laughed and replied "you're right, no points I'm afraid." Bionics chuckled as well, then patted the Tornado's side, nodded at Tails and walked off back to the waiting Lien-Da. He heard the biplane's engine start behind him as he reached her, and he turned around to watch it start off around the Spire before flying off after the truck with Sonic on top of it as a wing walker.

* * *

Author's notes: Here be zombies... Yes, anyway, as of writing this chapter I have found in the Archie Sonic comics #211 that the Iron Queen blew up and critically wounded Lien-Da! (What a b**ch! Well, in the comics Lien-Da is also a b**ch so I suppose it equates out.) Chapter came along to you all nice and quick, which I hope is good. The reason for why Bionics' blood is golden will be explained in a later chapter. Easter hols are on now, so who knows how much time I can devote to this fanfic. Now I must move onto the next chapter, where the Dark Legion at last get their first new chance of being 'Good Samaritans'.


	10. Chapter 9: Good Samaritans

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are copyright of either Sega or Archie Comics, as are most if not all unspecified terminologies. Anything previously specified by me are my own ideas.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Good Samaritans**

"What a nice young boy Tails is" Bionics said almost to himself as he watched the plane disappear into the distance. It was then that he became serious again and said to Lien-Da "well at least we've made progress with the Republic of Acorn today. I hope that the rest of the day is a little quieter." And so it seemed it would be. After an account of the events was relayed to Dimitri as the Dark Alliance's third leader, noon passed and without warning they had entered the mid-afternoon.

Bionics went to his planning room to make some other military preparations, and Lien-Da spent her time in the simulators, building up her skills of swordplay. As far as Bionics was aware, the upgrades he had provided, combined with her own dogged determination, would mean she would pick up the basics and yet more in that very short amount of time. He went down to watch her after he was finished, and was staggered by her sudden aptitude with a sword.

He had gone in to join her and they had engaged in a rematch. Bionics had set his skill and speed levels a notch or so higher to test her, and discovered that even like this he had difficulty holding back her attacks. He also had some difficulty landing a blow of his own, so he decided to up the ante and bring on his ultimate skill. When he told Lien-Da what it was he would do she had laughed and said "You're joking, right?" Bionics had simply smiled back and said "I most certainly am not. Now, let's see how you cope with it." With that Lien-Da had assumed a defensive position and waited for him to strike. He smiled and closed his eyes.

Time, for Bionics at least, slowed.

Bionics opened his eyes and looked at Lien-Da through his new perspective. He watched as she blinked sluggishly. He huffed gently, smiled slightly harder and walked up to her with his energy katanas' blades crossed. She had begun to react as he reached her, but it was nowhere near fast enough to effectively stop him. He actually paused to let her raise her weapon in defence, before landing a quick strike against her. To her vision, he knew, he had barely moved.

Bionics struck her blade five more times, knocking her back a step. He spun the katana in his left hand so he held the hilt in a reverse grip and swung the inverted 'solid light' blade at her waist. She managed to summon up some speed to counter this strike effectively, but it also left her head wide open for his other katana to strike. His blade sailed up and stopped barely an inch from Lien-Da's neck.

Time resumed its natural pace.

* * *

Lien-Da stiffened as Bionics' second blade hovered right next to her neck, but stifled a gasp of shock. He had been just too fast. He had closed his eyes in the way he did to concentrate and when he had opened them again he had moved like lightning. It actually hurt her head to acknowledge and react to his sudden changes in position and movement. Still, despite that she wasn't going to be stopped that easily. He had held back from actually striking her, a bad mistake, as she wouldn't show him the same courtesy.

She snapped her blade up to knock his second blade aside and dodged out of reach of both swords. She raised the sword to charge and strike him back. But he wasn't there anymore; he had vanished just like that. She frowned, puzzled, and wondered what had happened to him. Then she felt a presence behind her back and... Too late, Bionics planted an un-ignited katana hilt into her back and flashed the second ignited blade over her own sword, knocking it from her hand, before deactivating that blade as well.

Both katanas flew to their holsters on the back of his waist and he grabbed Lien-Da in an arm lock. He bore her to the ground and moved onto her in a way which made sure she could not move her arms or legs in any way. She was completely immobilised. Bionics just stayed where he was for a moment, pinning her to the ground, before grinning audaciously and saying "Looks like I win this one."

"Looks like you do" Lien-Da said, returning the grin "but what is it that you win?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Bionics replied teasingly. She huffed and chuckled in a semi-serious way. "That depends on what _you_ want" she said, mocking Bionics' own words. Bionics also huffed as she did so and asked "How about your respect and undying friendship, will that be okay?"

"I suppose I could manage that" Lien-Da said back. Bionics shifted his weight to make her more comfortable under him and changed his grin back into his trademark smile. It was without warning that they both paused for a while, and she found Bionics' head slowly was approaching hers. His tilted his head slightly as he got closer to her, and she closed her eyes slightly as well. Their mouths were but an inch from each other...

* * *

Bionics' HUD warning flashed and chimed in his head. He was stopped in his approach to Lien-Da with a start. Both of them woke up from the moment and Lien-Da was the first to react; aggressively. She pushed him off of her and he fell onto his back. He let out a cry of surprise but didn't attempt to get up. Lien-Da however, did get up. In fact she jumped up, and looked at him with a thunderous expression. "What the hell were you thinking? Don't you dare try that with me again, Bionics! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry" Bionics replied, not entirely truthfully. He opened the warning up like a file on a computer screen and read the details. It seemed that the Republic A.I. NICOLE was waiting to talk to him on top of his Spire. He got to his feet, and made to leave the simulation chambers, but Lien-Da was not yet done scalding him. "Hold on, and where do you think you're going?"

"The Republic's own NICOLE wants to meet me on the Spire's roof."

"I don't give a damn! What were you trying to pull with me back there?"

"Look, I said I was sorry. I don't know what came over me. I don't see why you are so keen to keep the topic going."

"I don't see why you should try and pull stunts like that and then act like its no big deal! Is that all I mean to you? Am I just something to be used and to satisfy your-"

"How can you believe for one second that I would do that to you?" Bionics shouted. He had had enough of this argument. He was now at the end of his tether. "How many times will I have to scream it at you until you get it? I. Am. Sorry! Can't you just accept that I didn't mean you any ill by it?" Bionics was aware that Lien-Da seemed to get angrier and angrier with every word he said. He lowered his voice a little and continued "Look, is it so hard to grasp this simple fact?"

"What fact, Bionics, what bloody fact?" Lien-Da almost shrieked at him.

"You mean something to me, Lien-Da!" Bionics shouted back with a resounding sense of finality. He saw her freeze in place at this. She didn't say another word to him; she just stared at him with a mixture of shock and horror. He felt his anger towards her fade away, and he felt a sting of slowly growing dread. How would she react to him? He couldn't stop now. He had to get it all out of his system.

"I care about you so much, I care about the Legion, yes, but I care about you more, your safety and your wellbeing. I want to see you happy and content. I'm trying to do that for you. It's breaking my heart to argue with you like this, you know that?" He felt the hot wash of negative emotion begin to surge up and then subside. Lien-Da's face had gradually lost its angry and shocked look and now she seemed to display the look of someone who had reached some kind of greater understanding.

Eventually she said quietly "But why? Why am I so important to you, Bionics?"

"I... you... you have a part to play in events to come." Bionics decided that she deserved the truth as it stood, and the Creator could punish him afterwards and it wouldn't matter a single gods damn. "You and I are... destined to form a kind of emotional bond, Lien-Da. You and I were meant to find each other for this. That is the other reason I helped you all; because I needed to find you, you are important to the events set to take place, and to me personally."

"I'm important to you personally? What, are you saying that you-"

"I don't know, is the answer to that. I don't know if I do yet, but all I can say for sure is that we are supposed to form a bond during my time here. That is why you had those visions when we first looked at each other on that first night. The bond can be just one of mutual cooperation or one of rivalry, or it can be a romantic bond."

Lien-Da still looked confused by it all, it was a fair bit to try and take in, or so Bionics thought. She said "So you're doing all this simply because it's destined to happen? You're caring for me because it was predetermined?"

"In a way, yes, I am saying that. I'm saying that to work with you and the Dark Legion was predetermined, but my caring for you grew around that. It is independent of my duties and my primary destinies."

Time passed, for that while it had no meaning as they both just stood and looked into each other's eyes. Eventually Lien-Da reacted and said "Actually, this is very similar to something I have been experiencing since I first looked at you the night you arrived. It's something we Echidnas call the Soultouch. Basically, it's a sixth sense that we get when we meet out partner for life. The first of the pair feels great attraction to the second of the pair and will follow him or her until they share in the Soultouch by realising its existence. From there the couple are bonded as soulmates. Sometimes its not perfect, Soultouched couples can split up but its very uncommon. I myself do feel that attraction to you, but I'm still not sure if I want this yet or not."

Bionics looked at her in surprise at this revelation he had never known before. It seemed to him to be quite a romantic notion to be bonded like that. Lien-Da smiled sadly and said "I'm sorry I shouted at you, and I'm sorry for how I reacted. It's just... it's been so long since I ever had anyone genuinely care about me like that. I'm used to being disappointed or betrayed, you see, life has never been quite as kind to me as it has to you."

"I see, well you have my sympathies as well. Besides, my life hasn't all been good." Bionics finished on that sentence and then made his way out to the lifts. Lien-Da eventually caught up with him after a few seconds. They both took a lift to the Spire's roof, and found NICOLE waiting there by Bionics' throne. As they arrived the she had turned to see them do so, and had waited for them to walk right up to her.

"Ah, Bionics, it is good to see you again."

"The feeling is mutual, NICOLE" Bionics said as he gave a respectful bow to her. As he came back up he continued "What brings you back to my Spire so soon?"

"Bad news, I'm afraid" NICOLE said as her face became dour, "After they left you Sally, Antoine and Bunnie were captured by some of Scourge's soldiers in an ambush." Bionics' face also fell as he heard this and cursed "gods damn it."

"It gets worse" she went on. "Sonic decided to try and save them and had Tails get word back to us in New Mobotropolis in his plane, Tails came back and explained the situation, but we've had no word from Sonic or any of the others. We believe he was captured too."

"Right, okay" Bionics' mind buzzed as he thought about the dilemma. "Can you pinpoint their location, NICOLE?"

"Yes, I used a satellite to find them. They're in a convoy of vehicles being taken back to Scourge's main fortress and base of operations here on Mobius. We can't send anyone to rescue them fast enough, and once they are inside that fortress we'll never be able to get them out."

"You can't, no, but I probably can" Bionics said entirely truthfully, "My forces could reach their location in seconds."

"That's why I came to you, Bionics" NICOLE said simply, "You pledged to help us, so now is when we need you. I'll give you their coordinates." She walked up to Bionics and held out her hand. Bionics took it and felt the information pass from her into his head. He could sense the four prisoners in a convoy of half a dozen trucks, barely a mile from where he could now tell Scourge's fortress was located.

He let go of NICOLE's hand and nodded to show her the information had been received and understood. "Thank you, NICOLE. You've done all you need to. My forces and I will take it from here." She smiled and returned the nod, before melting away and disappearing. He made no hesitations after that. Bionics spun on his heels and faced Lien-Da. "I think it would be a good idea to test the combat effectiveness of the new Dark Legion for the first time, don't you?"

"Yes, I think we've spent enough time in the simulations, it's time for real battle." Lien-Da replied to Bionics like this in an almost longing tone, as though she hungered for combat. He placed his hands on her armoured shoulders, looked her in the eye and said "if we do this I must know one thing. Are you and the Legion prepared to kill? We cannot afford to show any mercy, as it will alert Scourge's forces to your working with me."

Lien-Da's expression did not change one jot as she answered his question. "Yes, we are all prepared to kill; we have always been prepared to kill."

"Good" Bionics said with a nod. He led her back to the lifts and went to confer with Dimitri about the plan. Upon hearing it the Grandmaster agreed, and also consented to the need to leave no survivors. "Lien-Da will lead them in the field, though. I am a scientist, not a general. My place is here for now."

Bionics understood perfectly, and replied "very well. Lien-Da, how you equip your soldiers is up to you, but I recommend you bring along a couple of missile launchers as well as the standard layout." He pronounced it the proper 'miss-aisle' rather than the more slangy 'miss-ill', as he had originally come from old Earth England, that was his way of talking. Lien-Da took his advice and went off to prep and equip the Dark Legionnaires they would take on this mission.

After she had left, Dimitri took Bionics aside for a moment and said in a hushed tone. "I'm surprised at how much Lien-Da's changed after all this. She seems to have become a different person now."

"I suspect there will be a bit more change in her yet" Bionics said casually. Dimitri made a small "hmmm?" of questioning agreement, before saying "I suppose so." There was a moment of silence before he eventually said "How much do you care for my granddaughter, Bionics?" As Bionics heard Dimitri say those words his head spun to face him with a shocked expression.

Dimitri simply smiled knowingly and said "don't think me blind, I can tell how you feel about her. It's the way you look her in the eye, and you seem to have a smile reserved only for her as well. Also I think you and she are bonded by the Soultouch. If so, I am glad to see she's found her soulmate in life. I've had an idea of how you both felt since that incident on top of the Spire yesterday. I do not have anything against it, in truth I believe it will do you both some end of good, but I must ask that if you take this path you care for my great-great-granddaughter as much as possible. You must respect her desires and opinions, but also guide her back to the light from which she has strayed."

Bionics turned away from Dimitri in contemplation of this, and then turned slowly back and replied "Do not worry, I will." Dimitri bowed his head in gratitude. He turned and walked away out of the planning room where they had all gathered. Bionics stayed a while longer to complete a quick strategy of rescue and then went down to the armoury to meet with Lien-Da and the team she had picked out.

There were twelve soldiers in front of her when he got there. Two of them had been given missile launchers to act as anti-vehicle troops. Two more had been issued with energy based sniper rifles to deal with troublesome stragglers. All the rest of the soldiers were equipped with the standard rifles, plus a shotgun each for close quarters, and rappelling equipment. Bionics had inspected them himself and found them to be perfect.

Lien-Da had given them a full briefing while they were gearing up. Bionics concentrated, found where the convoy holding the prisoners was and then located a spot well beyond above a canyon that they could set up on and perform the op. He had then told them where they were going and how best it would be to set up, before translocating them all to that location.

* * *

"All units, be advised, contact ahead. Target convoy is in sight, five hundred yards and closing."

Lien-Da heard Bionics' voice over the radio say that and then reasserted her grip on her rifle. They had arrived just two minutes before on opposite sides of the flats above the canyon and had positioned themselves carefully. On each side were one heavy weapons expert and one sniper with four normal soldiers on as well. The sky here was covered in dark grey cloud, and it looked like it could rain at any moment.

Now they all lay in a prone position with their weapons trained on the slowly approaching convoy. Lien-Da was watching each vehicle through her helmet's HUD intently. As she did so, and as the convoy grew closer, she watched as the outline identifier on two trucks suddenly blip to green. Before she could figure out why she heard Bionics say "all units, be advised, do not shoot the trucks marked with a green outline on your HUDs. Those trucks contain the prisoners, they must not be destroyed, I repeat, they must not be destroyed."

Now she understood. Lien-Da turned her rifle away from the green outlined trucks and looked at those outlined in red. They had nothing but enemies in them; they could be destroyed. She used her HUD to zoom in on the cockpit of the lead vehicle. It was a combat truck, with an armoured body and a heavy machine gun on top. She spoke into her own comm. systems and said to her soldiers "men, take out the combat vehicles at the front and back to box the rest of the convoy in"

"Acknowledged, Kommissar" came a general reply.

"Two hundred and fifty yards and closing" Bionics added onto the end of this. Their seemed to be a certain tension as the line of vehicles got closer and closer at a faster and faster rate. The silence that followed was only broken by Bionics' intermittent announcements of "two hundred yards and closing... a hundred and fifty yards and closing... a hundred yards and closing..." all the way up until the convoy were right in their midst. As soon as the first combat truck was level with the rescue team, and just as the first droplets of rain began to fall, Lien-Da said calmly "open fire."

* * *

Down in the convoy below, one of Scourge's soldiers sat in the truck containing two of the prisoners and had their gun on their lap. He was in the truck holding the two female captives. The four prisoners had been separated into their specific genders for the trip so as not to let any unexpected romance or similar pass between them.

This particular soldier was a cat with shiny black fur and cold, yellow eyes. His armour was standard issue; urban camouflage patterns with black armoured plates on his chest, thighs, shoulders and lower arms. His helmet did not cover his face, but protected his head and had a visor to cover his eyes. At the moment though he had his helmet off, and he was keeping his eye on the prisoners.

He felt a dark, primordial lust as his eyes ran up and down Princess Sally Acorn's body. He was always a very lusty personality and had certainly not restrained that in his time back on Moebius. He'd had many token girlfriends just for use as sexual playthings, he'd often paid money to be 'serviced' by less scrupulous women and had even raped a few in his time. He felt heady as he imagined just what he could do with this hot piece of tomboy tail.

As he continued to gaze at her she turned to see him doing so and then quickly looked away. "Don't turn away, babe" he drawled, his voice dripping with malice. He got up and moved to be sitting right next to her uncomfortably closely. She didn't react, so he grabbed her chin and pulled her face around to his. There was no fear in her expression, just anger as she said "Take your filthy hands off of me!"

"Ooh, not very friendly" he taunted her as he held onto her chin. It irritated him mildly that she didn't show any fear. Fear in a woman was his favourite aphrodisiac, but he could bring it out in the princess yet. His trail of thought was broken by the other prisoner sitting on the opposite side of Sally. "Y'all can go to hell if you try that, you pervert" Bunnie said disgusted. The soldier leaned out to look at her in anger. "This ain't your conversation, bitch, so just shut up or I'll make you. Neither of you two are going anywhere like this."

He indicated the shackles which strapped them to the bench as he said this. He turned back to Sally with a terrible smile. "You've no idea how much you turn me on, your Highness, I so want to just sink my teeth into you-" The princess then cut him off by spitting in his face. His head moved back and he slowly wiped his face clean. His expression if anything became all the more sadistic. "I see you're a girl of spirit. No matter, I can soon see to that." He stood up and used the butt of his rifle to hit her in the stomach.

She cried out in shock and pain, and then coughed violently a couple of times, before he put down his gun and pulled her face back up to his. He planted his right boot on the seat where he had been sitting just before, removed his combat knife from its sheath and held it up to her neck with his free hand. Now the fear entered Sally Acorn's eyes, and the soldier savoured the moment. As he took his first hand from her chin and ran his finger slowly down her left thigh he felt a new rush of giddy sexual pleasure.

"I'm gonna enjoy this sooo much." He slowly raised the knife up to her eye and her terror seemed to mount... A pair of explosions from outside rocked the truck, causing the soldier to fly backwards onto the seat opposite and bang his head. He swore loudly and stared at the prisoners for a moment. They were just as bewildered as he was, it seemed. He snatched up his rifle and jumped out of the tarpaulin which covered the back of the truck into the suddenly starting rain. No sooner had he jumped out that he was caught by five rapid bolts of red laser energy and disintegrated into atoms.

* * *

As the initial pair of rockets had connected with the front most and rear most vehicles, Lien-Da had kept her eyes on the main convoy despite the polarisation of her visor to compensate for the light of explosions. She had watched the truck just behind the lead vehicle and had been rewarded for her concentration by catching one of Scourge's soldiers jump out of the back. She had fired five shots on full automatic and watched as the soldier became nothing more than red glowing, energy charged atoms.

For a moment the image of her with a much larger weapon utterly destroying her father in the same way flashed across her mind, but she shook off the thought and turned her field of vision as she, the Dark Legionnaires and Bionics began picking off more of Scourge's soldiers in quick succession. One more rocket blew apart the only unmarked truck still remaining as Bionics got up and jumped down to the canyon below. "All units, use rappel lines, make your way down here and mop up." While the Legionnaires set up to rappel down the cliff edges on both sides the snipers and Lien-Da from above, as well as Bionics from below, covered them.

Most of the soldiers in the convoy had been clever enough to try and take cover in any form, but there was little to be had. The Legionnaires had a good view of the entire canyon below, so the bottoms of cliffs and the sides of vehicles provided no safety. Only a few of the smartest had fully grasped why this attack was happening and had made their way into the trucks containing the captives...

* * *

As the first Legionnaires hit the ground, laser rounds being absorbed and bullets disintegrated by their energy shielded power armour, they spun around to face the convoy and return fire. Bionics sprinted up to the first truck and literally jumped straight through the tarpaulin cover. He stopped in his tracks by one of Scourge's soldiers holding a pair of pistols to Sally Acorn's and Bunnie D'Coolette's heads. "Make a move, sonny Jim, and these two get it!"

Bionics knew negotiation was out of the question, and if he made any sudden movements the prisoners would be killed. So he found an alternative. He concentrated, but he did so with his eyes open and fixed on the soldier. As he did so the nails holding the two women's shackles in place began to unscrew. 10 seconds later and there was a loud _clunk_ as they all fell at once.

"What the...?" was all the soldier had time to say, turning to see what had happened and letting his guard down, before Bionics brought his Desert Eagle up and planted a round into the side of the his head. He was launched away from Bionics with incredible force and smashed into the back of the truck's cockpit.

Bionics blew the smoke away from his pistol as Sally and Bunnie got up and he checked them for injury. "Thanks for the rescue, Bionics" the princess said gratefully.

"Anytime" Bionics replied with a curt nod, before he leapt out of the back of the truck to find that the Legion had managed to free Sonic and Antoine themselves. As the pair of women followed him out both Antoine and Bunnie ran to each other and embraced lovingly. Sonic and Sally did similar, but it was more of a friendly hug than a romantic one.

Bionics wasn't engaged by the reunions. He squelched through the thick mud brought on by the now torrential downpour and had a wander around the wrecked convoy to see if there could be any survivors. He made his way around to the back and heard heavy, pained breathing close to the second-to-last truck. He moved up to see a soldier trying to crawl away from him. This soldier's armour seemed torn and ragged and he was leaving a large trail of blood from under him. To Bionics it seemed that this soldier had been caught in the explosion that had ruined his truck and been mistaken for dead.

He strided up to the soldier quickly and carefully turned him over. He looked into the soldier's eyes, full of pain and fear. As it turned out, the soldier was actually female. She was a bird, a sparrow, with brown feathers and eyes to match. Her feathers had been ruffled and made unkempt by the explosion and she was bleeding where shards of metal shrapnel had buried themselves in her chest. She was fighting for breath and it was apparent she was in terrible pain.

Bionics slowly raised his pistol to her forehead. Her eyes widened in terror, she managed to whisper with great difficulty "have mercy."

"I am so sorry, but I can't" his finger slowly applied itself to the trigger. Before he could pull it completely he became aware of presences behind him, turned his head, and saw Lien-Da, Sonic and Sally standing there soaking through from the rain. Lien-Da spoke first "A survivor? You remember what we agreed Bionics? No survivors, no-one to escape back to Scourge."

"Wait!" Sally stepped forward and raised her arms in alarm. "Don't kill her! We can take her back to New Mobotropolis with us for questioning. There's no need to be ruthless here."

"And what if she escapes or manages to get help?" Lien-Da countered impatiently. "No, we cannot afford to keep her alive, Bionics."

"Please, Bionics, she's dying, and she's more valuable to us alive. Have some compassion."

Bionics considered both alternatives carefully. He knew that he could kill this woman without qualm, but now he had a much kinder alternative at hand. He didn't want to upset Lien-Da either. Right now though, he had to put duty before emotions, just like always. He looked back at the sparrow and slowly holstered his weapon. He raised his mechanical hand to her chest and started passing blue healing energy to her wounds. The shrapnel embedded there slowly disintegrated and disappeared, the internal tissues repaired, and the wounds closed.

The sparrow's breathing became normal. With the pain deadened, her expression became one of relief. Bionics finished healing her and then made sure that they both looked each other squarely in the eye again. "Are you prepared to be the Republic's prisoner of war in return for your survival?" She remained motionless for a second, and then she blinked and nodded slowly. Bionics showed his caring smile and then pulled the sparrow to her feet.

She was a little weak from the blood loss, so he helped support her until they reached one of the two trucks still intact. He lifted her bodily up and laid her carefully on the right hand bench in the back of the vehicle, whereupon the lack of blood and the exhaustion finally caught up with her and she passed out. Bionics got out of the back and said to Sally "you can use this truck to get back. You'll be safe from any more ambushes now."

"Thank you again Bionics, you did a good thing in keeping that soldier alive."

"You're welcome, your Highness" Bionics bowed and then walked away to meet Lien-Da at the cliff edge. She seemed to be quite irritated again. As he got there she immediately stared him fixedly in the eye. "If we're supposed to be working together, when are you going to listen to the things I say?"

"I'm sorry, but there was no need to kill her if she was of use to the Republic."

"We agreed didn't we? No survivors. We agreed no one left alive to let Scourge know of us. What if that sparrow managed to send a message by radio or something? We can't afford to be compassionate, Bionics, we can't afford to be weak."

Bionics' good eye glazed over and he just stared at her calmly. He said very quietly, so only she could hear it, "compassion is not weakness, Lien-Da. It is the greatest strength of all sentient beings. Compassion always beats ruthlessness, and with compassion I have dealt justice across the Multiverse. If you do not have compassion, then you will never be stronger than those who _do_ have it." He turned and began to walk away from her slowly, leaving her to take this new concept in.

* * *

Lien-Da felt as though Bionics had taken his proverbial sledgehammer to yet another of her mental absolutes. Compassion is not weakness? She could barely remember a time when she had really believed that. She had perhaps shown compassion when she was much younger, but after her father had remarried without even consulting her or her brother, and then having a child with his new wife, it had left her feeling that compassion and understanding were obsolete.

She had once taken a slight cruel pleasure in the memory of how she had decided to end the sources of her newfound hatred. She had killed her stepmother, and then she had killed her father as well despite being badly wounded in the process. She had never acknowledged Julie-Su, her half-sister by her stepmother, as a true relative. She had attempted to have Dimitri assassinated once as well, but that had been a spectacular failure, as his continued survival was testament to.

Almost singlehandedly she had destroyed the majority of her family and those that she hadn't killed were now affected by her in some way. Lien-Da had never felt remorse for her ruthlessness, and she had never felt weak for doing it. How could the merciful be stronger than the merciless? How could Bionics be as strong as he was through compassion? As she considered this, the fires of battle and anger coursing through her veins, they were all translocated back to the Spire once again.

* * *

Author's notes: It wouldn't be a proper story without at least one attempted rape scene, right... Well, we'll see. Chapter up just a day or two after the last. That has to be my personal record. The event where Lien-Da remembers killing her father is, of course, a plot point in the Archie comics and I do not pretend for one second that I made it up. Here we see the relationship between our protagonists grow closer, and it will grow closer still. As to Bionics and his English origins, I refer you briefly to the point I made in chapter 2's notes: Bionics' voice is that of one of my favorite actors of all time, Ralph Fiennes. Anyway, enough of my boring and fastidious ramblings, I've got chapters to write for you all. Look out next time when Bionics and Lien-Da engage in a rousing moment of 'Reminiscence'.


	11. Chapter 10: Reminiscence

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are copyright of Sega and/or Archie comics. Nightwish belongs to my old friend Mephistofel the Dark Vampire (forum name). Any stuff previously stated as my own still is, this includes new additions of Dark Chaos.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Reminiscence**

No sooner had Bionics and the Dark Legion's rescue team landed than he was on the Spire's roof sitting on his throne. The cloud and rainfall had not passed by the Spire and they enjoyed much more pleasant weather. He was thinking about if there was any way that Scourge might have figured out the Dark Legion was with him. They had taken as many precautions as possible, but here was the possibility that the sparrow had managed to send out a message. One thing was that the Legion had been upgraded almost beyond recognition. They looked very similar to Bionics' own Immortals, so perhaps that might be enough.

He felt that he shouldn't be concerned about the matter. They had been cautious, so it should all be fine. He decided to take a fly around the Spire and surrounding canyons to clear his head. He took off his cloak and weapons and placed them carefully by his throne. He then summoned a jetpack out of thin air and strapped it to his back. He wasn't going to transform into his true form just for entertainment reasons.

He was just finished checking everything was in place when one of the lifts opened and Lien-Da came up to him. He smiled and mocked surprise as he said "We do seem to enjoy each other's company a lot, don't we?"

"Thanks to the Soultouch, it would seem so" she replied, "I wanted to ask you about how you thought the Dark Legion performed on that last op."

"Do you now? Well, I personally think that under your command they proved exceptional. They have quick combat reflexes and were able to finish the mission in record time. I am suitably impressed by the Legion."

"A straightforward evaluation, but I think you're being too kind" Lien-Da said without a hint that she had been flattered. "It was quite a lot down to your equipment and guidance that we became that good."

"Equipment is only as good as the people who wield it. You and the Legion's skill is the key thing that won the day."

"If you say so" Lien-Da said, now revealing a touch of pride in her tone, "I'm glad that we could impress a god with our prowess."

Bionics nodded in agreement and then stared out over the now much sunnier late afternoon sky. He didn't take his eyes away from this scene as he said "Out of curiosity, do you believe '_dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' _is true?" Lien-Da looked confused as she replied "What does that mean?"

"Translated, it means 'it is sweet and fitting to die for your country'. Do you believe that this is true?"

Lien-Da looked at him for 3 seconds, then she looked away from him and at nothing for 5 seconds, then she closed her eyes and said "We in the Dark Legion have never had a country to call our own, so I cannot answer that."

"Okay, how about your cause then? You obviously have a goal you wish to achieve, so is that cause worth dying over?" Lien-Da paused and went into deep thought again. When she broke off from thinking about it she said "No, it is not a cause worth dying for. It is a cause worth fighting for, a cause worth killing for."

"Ah, I see, but if it is a cause worth killing for, is it then worth living for, knowing you have so much blood on your hands?" Lien-Da was obviously becoming more and more pained by this conversation, instead of giving him the answer to that question she said, quite suddenly "Why do you do this to me? You go off on random trails of conversation and then you destroy my view of the world with your speeches and actions. Do you enjoy making me question my personality, my methods and my deeds all the time?"

"No, I most certainly do not. I did not know that this trail of thought would upset you, I am sorry." Bionics' stature became lesser for a moment, and he was sure Lien-Da could spot this. He felt good for having got her to voice her problem to him, but also bad for having caused it to hurt her feelings. He decided to end the conversation and continue with what he had been planning before her arrival.

Before he took off or did anything he decided he would ask her. It might even cheer her up a bit. He turned back to her and asked "Would you like to come and have a fly around the Spire with me?" Lien-Da did not seem to react to this question, at least she didn't facially, but instead she said "go for a fly with you?"

"Yes, a fly with me, using one of these..." He indicated his jetpack for her to see.

He waited for her reply for what felt like a very long time. Slowly, she nodded her head. Bionics summoned up another jetpack, wordlessly walked over to Lien-Da, removed her cloak and slotted it onto the power armour on her back. He explained to her that it worked using thoughts, that you had to think about how you wanted to move, how fast to go, how much to turn by, and when to hover. He also told her that it would ignore thoughts induced by sheer panic or terror and would put her on a safe and stable flight path, so anything like that was of no concern.

Lien-Da didn't show any sign of panic or terror, she was calm and level headed as he told her all of this. When he had finished, Bionics led her up to the very edge of the Spire's roof and they both stood on the short wall bordering it. Bionics held out his right hand to her, and she took it in her left. Bionics nodded and then together they leant forward and dived off of the roof.

* * *

As they both began to free fall down the 5 mile high construct, Lien-Da could feel the strong wind flow past her face and though her hair. She was surprised that she didn't need to close her eyes or squint to the strong current, and that she could take in every detail perfectly. She turned to see Bionics with a concentrating face. He was waiting for the right moment. When they were a full half mile down Bionics caught Lien-Da's attention and gave her the thumbs up sign; show time.

Both of them managed to activate their jetpacks simultaneously. They surged downward even quicker before Bionics banked up sharply and Lien-Da quickly followed. To her it was amazing, she could turn and spin and change her speed just with a thought. She was in complete control, just the way she wanted. She couldn't help but smile as she and Bionics made a circle around the Spire. She tried a few barrel rolls and did it perfectly. She let out a laugh of joy as they continued. She had flown fast before, but never like this, never this intimate, never this controlled.

They both flew further away from the Spire and had a fly over the surrounding canyons. Everything they could see from up here was so small and seemed so insignificant. It felt like being a bird or, rather fitting in this case, a god as it watched over its domain. Lien-Da couldn't help herself. She spread out her arms and took in a deep breath of fresh air. Bionics levelled with her on her right and smiled at her.

"It's glorious up here, isn't it?" he asked. Lien-Da was aware that the wind rushing past them eerily made little noise to drown out his voice. She replied blissfully "Yes, it is. This is heavenly." Bionics' smile grew bigger and then he broke off from her, heading back in the direction of the Spire. She banked sharply right and followed hot on his tail. Soon they were about to fly over the roof and pass through the massive blades there.

Bionics was much further ahead and pulled his body up, causing his jetpack to make him hover over the roof. Lien-Da was able to copy this action, although not quite as gracefully, and they both floated softly back onto their own two feet. They both switched off the jetpacks with a thought, and then took them off. Bionics caused both of the packs to vanish, and then he placed Lien-Da's cloak back on for her before reattaching his own. She turned to look at him with happiness and a touch of exhilaration in her expression.

"That was just staggering! I've never flown like that before."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Lien-Da. I've found it's always cleared my head in times stress."

"I know what you mean. I feel magnificent. I want to do that more often, thank you Bionics." Lien-Da gave Bionics a little hug of gratitude. Bionics obliged and returned the hug. After this he walked up to his throne and sat down with a sigh of satisfaction.

Lien-Da walked up to him and sat down with her back on the right-hand side of the throne. For a full minute they didn't say a word to each other, but then she finally said "Bionics, I want to know more about you. I mean you seem to know all this stuff about us, so why don't you share some of your past with me?"

Bionics seemed to freeze where he sat, and didn't say a word for quite a while. After this awkward silence he said, slowly, quietly "my past... my... past... I suppose I can tell you now. Do you have any idea how old I am Lien-Da?"

"Not a clue."

"I am 12,028 years old. I know I don't look old, but dear gods I feel it inside. By the standards of the gods I am still but a child or an adolescent. I was born here, on Mobius, back when it was the planet Earth and Humanity was the dominant species."

Lien-Da interrupted him carefully and said, puzzled "I thought there were no civilised Mobians back then."

"A common misconception, even to those with magic or the power of Chaos on their side, there were some civilised Mobians back then. We were government experiments created to try and unlock a greater form of intelligence. 6 months after the first of us were created we had spread all across the planet, and led relatively normal lives. A lot of us went on to become either law enforcement officers or members of the military, due to our penchant to martial tactics. I was an engineer working on aircraft aged 14 and my brother, Kyle, was a proper soldier, a sergeant.

Then, when I was 16, that all went to hell. Our lands had come under attack from a demonic entity who simply called himself 'Dark Chaos'. He was a being of Chaos Tainted in manifest. He and his near endless army of demons slaughtered any and all who stood in their path. One day, he killed my brother, personally, in cold blood. I could only watch as he did so before he escaped. I vowed to have my revenge. I quit the military and made off with enough guns and ammunition to maintain a small war.

After a year I finally confronted him, but he was far too powerful for me back then. He cast me down, then blew off my right arm and tore out my left eye." At this a look and feeling of terrible understanding came across Lien-Da, but Bionics continued "the pain forced me into unconsciousness. When I woke up, I had these..." He tapped his robotic arm and eye. "Well, needless to say this made it sadly easier for me. I had weapons installed in the arm and continued my vendetta. I met many allies along the way, and many enemies. I fought, became a demigod, nearly died at the hands of a virus so terrible that it kills you through the power of nightmares and Chaos Tainted.

Eventually, I killed Dark Chaos. I shot him in the head twice with my brother's pistol. After this I was taken by a god known as Nightwish, the god of all things good and Light, to the Diamond Alpha to have an audience with the Great Creator Himself. He tested me for worthiness. I passed His test. He made me into a machine god and in the process enlightened and cleansed my bloodstained soul."

Lien-Da just stared at him with a mixture of shock and sympathy. "What about the rest of the Mobians on Earth?"

"Them? When the Xorda, you know who they are I am sure, first attacked Earth. All of the first generation Mobians were wiped out, as their genetically modified bodies couldn't take the effect. A lot more Mobians devolved rapidly into the most basic organisms. The few survivors left would be the ones to restart civilisation. They would guide all the other Mobians that would eventually evolve from base animals or be born to the survivors. I went down to the planet and explained that they had to remain hidden in temporal stasis from the world until the time was right, about 4000 years later. I was able to persuade them into it and that is why there are no records of developed Mobian civilisation during the time before the early Days of Fury. As far as I am aware the Mobians I left instructions with were all Echidnas. They created the first civilisation in Albion.

And now I think it is time for an interesting fact, Lien-Da. The Echidna's city of Albion is built on the same island that I was born on. Back then it was called Britain, I came from the part of it called England. Albion was actually an ancient human name for the British Isles. I was born on the same landmass that would become the home of the first true Mobian civilisation, and I guided and aided that civilisation's ancestors when and how to build it. In that respect, I feel quite privileged."

Lien-Da nodded courteously and said "so you became a god and witnessed the first Xorda attack on this planet. What about some of your memorable moments as a god?" Bionics chuckled softly, but it was with bitterness and false humour. "The many memories a god keeps with him. I have done so much in my life. I have seen and heard such beautiful things as to make men weep with joy, and also such terrible things as to drive them mad a thousand times over.

I once fought as part of a war, where there was a battle in space so large and intense that it literally went across the whole galaxy. My ships fought and carved their path in the epicentre. I remember flying out there myself, striking down fighters, bombers, transports and even some capital ships all by myself. The battle went on for a month, and in the end only my forces and I had survived. An entire galaxy wiped clean of all life in just one month.

About a few hundred years ago, I landed on a planet that had the effect of cutting off my deific powers, my Spire and my soldiers. I had to fight as a mortal for a long time. It aged me to stay there, as the years that had been held back caught up slightly. Before the incident I looked the age I had been when I became a god; eighteen years old. Afterwards I looked as old as I look now, about in my mid-thirties.

I have rescued royalty, assassinated royalty, started and crushed revolutions, brought about wars and peace, met so many people and even kept a few to serve me as subservient gods and demigods. I have done wonderful things..." Bionics' expression became suddenly very sad, and Lien-Da actually moved around to kneel beside him and look at him with worry. "Bionics, what's wrong?"

Bionics took in a shuddered breath, and he felt a tear of sorrow well up in his organic eye. "...I have done wonderful things, and I have done terrible things. Death... war... fire... and burning... I have burned so much in my life. I have burned continents, planets, star systems and galaxies. Under my guns, my tanks, my ships and my command I have reduced them to ashes! Ashes and cinders! I have destroyed untold quadrillions of lives, made extinct so many irreplaceable species of flora and fauna. I have striven for peace all my life, Lien-Da, but what have I achieved instead?

I have achieved war and death and misery and anguish. In the name of my duty and the Creator I have burned the Multiverse, good and bad, guilty and innocent, in indiscriminate slaughter, all in the name of 'peace'! Tell me Lien-Da, after 12,000 years of bloodshed and war and negotiations and endless, endless burning, was any of it really worth the price of peace?"

* * *

There was a terrible, all consuming silence once more after this. Lien-Da just stared at Bionics as he stared back at her. He felt suddenly angry at himself. He should be able to control outbursts like that better. He had almost made a mockery of his sacred duty to the Great Creator. That was not something he was going to take lightly. He wondered why this sudden welling of emotion had occurred, but could find no answer.

"Yes" Lien-Da said simply. Bionics looked at her in surprise as she continued "all the blood you have spilled, all the things you have burned, all the lives you have taken are sometimes necessary for peace on a larger scale. If you hadn't done those terrible things then the Multiverse would now be lost to us all. All the good things you have done are a bonus, because you protected the Multiverse without any violence. You should be proud to be where you are today, Bionics, I certainly would be."

Bionics just continued to stare at her. He had never expected her to be so eloquent or so comforting of him, it was oddly refreshing. Every moment he spent in her presence it seemed he became closer and closer to her, more and more attracted to her. He didn't know yet whether he truly had proper romantic feelings for her, he was not very self assertive on this matter. Despite this he anticipated and hoped that he would in time develop those feelings.

"Thank you, Lien-Da" Bionics said with his special smile spreading across his lips yet again. After a moment or two he asked her, "so what about you? I've told you my life story, how about you return the favour?" Now it was Lien-Da's turn to freeze where she knelt. She turned her face downwards for a moment, she was debating whether or not to tell him it seemed. Finally she looked up at him and said quietly "Okay then, I'll tell you my story, but you won't like what you hear.

I was born into the Dark Legion while it was still occupying a place called the Twilight Cage. We had retreated there many years ago to escape Mobius. I was born, after my older brother Kragok, to the Grandmaster at the time named Luger. I led as normal a life you could lead as a member of the Legion in that realm of darkness until my mother died of the effects of spending too long in the Twilight Cage.

Luger... father... decided to take a new wife shortly afterwards. He never consulted me or Kragok about the matter. He just re-married to our stepmother Mari-Su and had another child, my young half-sister Julie-Su. We the older siblings never really accepted our new mother or our new sister, and we drifted further and further from our father. Eventually I reached the point where until you arrived and did all this I didn't even acknowledge him as our father anymore, our grandfather, Moritori Rex was more of a father to me and Kragok and so I made myself ignore Luger's generation. I..." Lien-Da slowly drifted off and Bionics saw a look of both misery and fear cross her face. "What's wrong, Lien-Da?" She looked back at him and he saw a tear on her right cheek. "I can't tell you what happens next."

Bionics was as perplexed as he was concerned "why not?"

"Because you would never forgive me if I told you" she whispered, finally breaking down and crying softly into her arms. Bionics was shocked to see her break down like this. She was usually so cold, so composed; this was something new, something deeply confidential, a side to her she had never shown others before. He got up off his throne and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked into his eyes, still crying, and then he gently stroked her tear stained left cheek with his metal hand's index and middle finger. He took her by the arm and sat her down on his throne. He then knelt beside her and with an almost fatherly expression.

"I am prepared to forgive you any wrongs you may have committed in your life, Lien-Da. You deserve compassion from me, not retribution, and compassion is what I will give you. I promise." Lien-Da wiped away her tears with a little gasp and then readied herself to continue. "Eventually, I ended up killing my stepmother due to my jealousy and hatred, a hatred that has never really faded away. I made it look like an accident, but I think Julie-Su always had an inkling how her mother really died.

Then, when I was a teenager, Kragok and I plotted to take over the Dark Legion as joint Grandmasters. Moritori Rex had stated that our time as Grandmasters was long overdue. To achieve that power, we had to assassinate our father. I didn't care, as far as I was concerned he wasn't our father anymore. Kragok provided me with an experimental weapon to kill Luger with that would leave no trace, and I did the deed. I murdered my father in cold blood, and I took a great amount of pleasure in doing it. The weapon, as it turned out, was unstable. I received terrible injuries and was put into a coma by the explosion it created. When I did wake up Kragok revealed he had taken over as Grandmaster on his own, and that I would be Kommissar.

My own brother betrayed me. I never really got over that. Anyway, eventually we made our way back here to Mobius for another attempt at ending the Brotherhood of Guardians and seizing power, and this time we stayed here. Events came and went, Dimitri became Grandmaster and tried to forge peace between us and the other Echidnas, but I didn't want peace, I wanted dominance. I arranged for him to be assassinated while in peace talks but I was foiled by Lara-Su, my step-sister's daughter from a possible future. It was strange to know that she was from the future but at the time it did not matter to me, all that mattered was that because of her Dimitri still lived.

I became Grandmaster for a good while, I achieved the power I wanted, but after a while the Legion split in two. I ended up in command of the remnant called the Flame Legion, and an echidna called Remington ended up in charge of the Frost Legion. About that time the demigod Enerjak appeared and wreaked havoc across Angel Island, New Mobotropolis and New Megaopolis. Remington and I decided to cease fighting and recombine the Legion in order to fight back. Enerjak also managed to remove all of our implants and other upgrades in one fell swoop. We were suddenly very vulnerable, we had nowhere to turn.

It was then that Dimitri appeared to us and offered to install new implants, but on the condition that I stood down as Grandmaster and he assume the role. I was angry at his insolence, but had to concede. Barely a week after that had happened, Scourge finally appeared with his Suppression Squad, took control of the Republic of Acorn's Freedom HQ and began to advance his army through to this world as well. The fight was between the Republic and Scourge's forces, but somehow we got caught in the middle at times and so we were whittled down to the state you found us in."

Bionics continued to look at Lien-Da as she finished talking about herself. He nodded with clairvoyance and stood up slowly. "Thank you for sharing all that with me Lien-Da."

"Y... you're welcome, Bionics" she seemed to be a little surprised by his answer, and he told her so. She replied "to be honest, I expected you to give me one of your patronising speeches on the matter."

Bionics did not know what to think. "I do not see why I should. Your life is your life, I shall not comment on it." Bionics watched Lien-Da recline on his throne and purse her lips with pain as she rubbed her shoulders. If her shoulders ached, her power armour would get in the way. Bionics sat on one of the arm rests and helped remove her shoulder plates. He took them and put them down, before reaching up and gently massaging Lien-Da's stiff shoulders.

"What are you-" she managed to say before he started, and then she stopped short and closed her eyes and sighed in satisfaction. He let his thumbs press and rub over her many tension knots. Bionics didn't smile or take any intimate pleasure in doing this for her. He just wanted her to be comfortable...

* * *

Lien-Da's whole body relaxed and she smiled contentedly as he continued. She had never felt this relaxed in her life. She wanted him never to stop, so that she could forget everything and just enjoy this simple pleasure. Despite her mellowed attitude she found herself asking why she was letting him do this to her. She knew the answer anyway. She had told him the truth about herself and he had accepted it, accepted her.

For all her faults, all the things she had done in her time and her trouble coping with her sudden shift in attitude, he deemed her worthy of his care. That, for some reason, meant more to her than even her desires. Eventually he stopped massaging her no longer aching shoulders and she flopped back into his throne. She kept her eyes closed and just savoured that quiet, utterly serene moment.

Then it passed, and she opened her eyes to the sight of Bionics gazing at her. It was odd, but now she came to think about it, there was something about his look that had changed since they had first met, a certain warm glow to his features, a certain glisten in his normal eye. She found herself emotionally drawn to him, but then she still wasn't sure now was the time for it to come out in the open. Both her and Bionics stopped looking at each other and took in the blazing orange of the evening sun setting inevitably on the horizon with a refreshed feeling in their hearts.

* * *

A long way away, in a much darker and more evil place, Scourge the Hedgehog was absolutely livid. They had all been in his grasp! All of those troublesome little bastard heroes had been captured and were on their way to him. They had been in his grasp, but instead they had escaped and his soldiers had been wiped out. And it was all Bionics' fault. It had to be! Nothing the Republic of Acorn had at their disposal could have reacted in time to save their precious figureheads, it had to be Bionics.

Scourge continued to fume as he marched quickly through the blackened corridors of his enormous fortress. He had always liked the quite macabre look of the place, but at the moment he was too wrapped up in his own fury to pay the craftwork any attention. He had warned his old friend, hadn't he? He had said to Bionics to keep his nose out of it and not get in Scourge's way. It seemed that that was too much to ask, even from the person who had done alright by you. Bloody, bloody, bloody Bionics! Scourge growled as he reached the doors to his private chambers and pretty much kicked them open with an almighty bang.

The room, as it turned out, was already occupied. Fiona Fox was sitting on the right most of the two ebony thrones which faced towards the chamber door. She was wearing her usual outfit; black sleeveless vest, long sleeve black mitts, and a set of tight black trousers with shoes attached. The shoes had polished metal caps and unnecessary buckles on the outer shins. The trousers also had, aside from the normal buckled belt, a pair of loose waist belts that had metal studs dotting it. She also wore a yellow bow in her hair, which went at odds with the otherwise very punkish, gothic look.

She barely reacted to Scourge slamming open the massive bedroom's door. When he had stomped in, launched himself onto his throne and let out a great growl of frustration that she finally developed a look of concern. "What's the matter, hon?"

"An old friend is the matter" Scourge said, venom lacing his every word. He felt as though he wanted to throttle someone. How could his old friend do this to him? Why hadn't he come with him? He hated that it should have to come to this, but if Bionics wanted to spit in his face then he would return the favour.

Fiona reached over and gently squeezed his left hand to comfort him. He felt some of the red mist dissipate as she did so. He had always had quite a thing for Fiona, she had actually chosen to go evil and betray her own world in Mobius, and Scourge thought her all the hotter because of it. She actually seemed to care about him to a degree. "Who's the old friend?" she asked simply. Scourge shifted his weight on his throne so that he could lean across and look her in the eye over his sunglasses.

"His name's Bionics, babe, he's the one I told you about. He's the one who looked after me for a month when I was seven. I actually liked him; we were best buddies and all that. He left me after a month, though, apparently his master, the 'Great Creator'..." Scourge said these words in a overplayed obnoxious tone, "called him back 'cause he was breaking the big guy's rules. He's here, Bionics is here, and it turns out he's a god, an all powerful being, and he's here to bring peace to the planet. He said he's gonna have to fight me if I didn't back down."

Fiona looked at him with a degree of surprise and perhaps sympathy. "You're angry because you guys have to fight?"

"No" Scourge snapped bitterly. He got up off of his throne and went to the massive four-poster bed, where he lay down on the right side with his hands behind his back between his quills. "I'm angry because Bionics and his soldiers attacked the convoy bringing in Sonic and some of his gang. He not only freed them, but destroyed most of the vehicles and killed practically all my soldiers. I'm angry because he's forced me into having to fight back against him now."

Fiona got up from her throne as well and went to lie beside him in the bed. She soothingly ran the tips of her fingers up and down his arm to very gently scratch it. He sighed softly with pleasure as she continued. "I'm sure you can find a way around this, hon, you may yet be able to convince him to join us, y'know. And if all else fails, you should have enough men and weapons to subdue him."

"Yeah, I suppose" Scourge said with a new sigh of doubt. Fiona now slowly moved herself in top of him pressed herself against his body. She leaned her head forward and began to kiss him passionately. Scourge joined her and he felt all of his frustration melt away. They pulled apart for a moment and he said with a smirk "I can always rely on you to make me feel better, Fiona baby."

She shared the smirk and slowly began to remove her clothing, saying "anything for you, my king, anything for you." Scourge's expression became anticipating and primal at the prospect in front of him. He removed his crown, shades, shoes, gloves, and jacket and finally socks, and then they both climbed beneath the bed sheets and didn't say a word for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Author's notes: And for those of you who are not fans of the 'defrosting ice queen' trope, please look away now. Seriously, I plan to have Lien-Da's character become a lot less cruel as the story goes on, and also quite emotional. If, then, you are the kind of person who likes seeing Lien-Da as we know her from the comics, prepare to be a little bit disappointed. Bionics will be using a bit more intermittent Latin every now and then as a brief editorial comment. Bionics' back story is actually derived from a role-play I did on a sonic forum I once belonged to. In regards to the history of the Dark Legion, I've obviously had to tweak it to fit my differing continuity. In the comics, Albion is never specified as being on the British Isles, only on a large and remote island, so I have made an assumption and will bear any consequences either way. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please give comments. Next chapter we will be seeing Bionics deal with a problem closer to home, and he will be 'Measuring Up the Miles'.


	12. Chapter 11: Measuring Up the Miles

Author's disclaimers: We've got a few more of these this time round. Sonic and related characters are copyright of Sega and/or Archie comics. All terminology not specified by me to be my own is also their copyright. All terms specified as my own are, of course, my own. The song 'Bring Me To Life' is copyright of Evanescence and I do not own the lyrics, I merely borrow them. 'The Words I Love You' is copyright of Chris de Burgh and I also do not own the lyrics. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Measuring Up the Miles**

Even back at the Spire, the second evening passed quietly and without much more between Bionics and Lien-Da. They had dinner, chatted and went either to bed or to the Spire's roof. The night was silent and without a gust of wind in any direction. Lien-Da slept relatively contented, Bionics sat awake relatively contented. He didn't know why but now, of all times, he began to feel the fatigue of centuries actually begin to weigh his mind down. He could still think clearly, but now there was the terrible gnawing desire for sleep.

The third day of his campaign on Mobius started quicker than he had expected. The same routine as yesterday still rang true; check Spire systems, have breakfast, assist in Dark Legion combat training. It was during this that he received a notification from one of his captains that he should come up to the planning room and take a look at something. He asked Lien-Da and Dimitri if they cared to join him and they agreed.

Upon arrival, Bionics could immediately see from his planning table that something was amiss. The table was in a three-dimensional mode, looking out over the plains and canyons surrounding the Spire. There, all around the tower coming up the canyons, were soldiers, tanks, artillery and aircraft flew or hovered above it all. Bionics didn't need the computer's identification to tell who this army belonged to.

"Scourge's army" Bionics said with a hint of sadness. "It seems my old friend didn't take kindly to yesterday's rescue mission."

"So it would seem" Dimitri replied coldly. "What do you propose to do about this problem?"

"First things first, negotiation, if that fails then we will just have to fight back and break this supposed siege." Bionics remained impassive as he considered these options. Scourge would be angry with him for attacking his forces, but at the same time maybe a glimmer of good was still somewhere in his friend's heart.

"You two are already aware that you should stay inside the Spire. I think we can still surprise Scourge in some way if we keep your survival a secret a bit longer." Both Dimitri and Lien-Da nodded in understanding. Bionics then swept out of the planning room and teleported to a point just outside of the Spire's main gates. He concentrated and made a telepathic link to his captains on high. _"Captain Alpha, is Scourge among this task force?"_

"_No, my Lord, the army is under the command of one of Scourge's 'Suppression Squad'. The member in question is the Moebian version of Miles Prower."_

"_Ah, I see, very well. Until proven otherwise every member of the attack force is considered _persona non grata. _Keep the weapon systems, soldiers and aircraft on standby. Keep the ground vehicles alert but non-functional; there is no room for them out here yet."_

"_Yes, my Lord"_ replied Captain Alpha, before signing off. Bionics also dropped the telepathic link and walked slowly out into the plains to meet with the 'other' Miles Prower. He watched as tanks on old fashioned tracks rolled into place surrounding the Spire. He saw soldiers jogging around to prepare for forced entry. Artillery batteries swung up menacingly to bombard his tower's shields. Hovering attack craft, neither helicopter nor aeroplane, flew around to periodically drown out all other noises, or else hovered with missiles and machine guns at the ready.

Some of the soldiers and aircraft were keeping their weapons firmly aimed at Bionics himself. He made no attempt to fight back as he got steadily closer, closer. Eventually, as he drew right up in front of a large proportion of the attack force, Miles Prower finally stepped out from his men and went up to Bionics. He wasn't quite how the god had expected.

He was the same age and height as Prime 'Tails' and had the same pair of bushy tails, but from there it all began to change. He wore a strange red and grey military officer jacket with metal spikes on the end of the long sleeves. He wore a pair of red shoes with large, pointed metal caps at the end. The weirdest addition to the look by a mile was the oiled and groomed grey wig which started on the back of his head and flopped forward to form a point over his forehead on the right hand side.

His expression was one of constant, unyielding disdain, as though the mere existence of the world around him was an affront. Bionics knew about people who acted very holier-than-thou, a few of the gods on the Diamond Alpha could be like that. They were not the sort to back down to reason, or even a show of force. What you could try was appealing to their ego. If he could assuage Miles's belief in his own superiority he may get somewhere.

The fox got the first word in. "You are 'Bionics'?"

"Indeed I am, and you must be 'Miles Prower', from Moebius of course."

"Of course" said Miles "I do not associate myself with that unimportant little whelp from this universe. I'm glad you did not make the mistake of thinking I share his ridiculous nickname."

"Ah, yes, I recall that. Anyway, you are here to attack my Battle Spire. You are doing this at your king's behest?"

"Why else do you think I would be here? I couldn't care less about your part in this idiotic war. The armies of King Scourge are too numerous for even a god to withstand, you are not of consequence."

"You are one who appreciates power and status, I can tell" Bionics began in his less than subtle attempt at flattery. "If I am without consequence, why did Scourge think it necessary to have me removed?"

"Because it is necessary for me to do as my king tells me to." Miles then walked a little closer to Bionics and whispered so only he could here him. "Personally I think your connection with Scourge has clouded his vision. He has become inefficient in making tactical decisions."

Bionics also took up whispered conversation "yes, I can see that you are much more suited to those sorts of things. Can I assume that you were the one who fired the missiles at my Spire two days ago?"

"That was my decision, yes."

"It was very tactically sound, nip a problem in the bud as soon as possible, classic good thinking despite my shields withstanding the barrage. I noted you fired some missiles elsewhere. Might I inquire as to where they went?" Bionics knew that this would play down any thoughts of the Dark Legion surviving and being with him.

Miles did seem to be responding to the sycophancy in just the way needed. "I'm pleased you see greatness where it truly lies. Those other missiles wiped out the remnants of a group of Echidnas called the Dark Legion. They had been getting in the way a bit and I thought that it would prove wise to finally be rid of those pests."

"Again, I must say that you made the right choice. A shame though that I didn't know they were there, or I may have helped them."

"You would help the weak and feeble rather than back up the great? A character flaw which will get you killed, Bionics."

"Well, you know best it seems." Bionics knew he had to try now or never in this attempt at a bloodless outcome. "I tell you what, seeing as your aptitude in military strategy and character judgement far outstrips that of your king, why don't you bother not attacking such an insignificant target as me? You and I could make it look like you attempted to attack and you left an impact upon me. You, the successful commander, sent a clear message to the not-so-powerful-after-all god 'do not mess with the better power'."

There was a moment of silent consideration. Miles's face didn't change but Bionics knew he was deliberating on the idea. His eyebrows raised and he nodded slowly. "I suppose I could see to it that that plan works." Bionics bowed slightly in gratitude and Miles indicated he should head back to the Spire. He turned and took a dozen steps away. It was a few seconds later he heard the clacking noise of dozens of bullet-firing rifles. Before he could spin around or jump away, two of the attack aircraft unleashed their payload of missiles onto Bionics' position.

* * *

The soldiers also fired full-auto into the fire and smoke. Miles sneered with triumph and snapped his fingers to cease the barrage. "...Or I could just deal with you now." There was no reply from the thick column of smoke. The fox's sneer grew larger as he turned back to his soldiers. "It seems someone was all talk. Alright men, start the bombardment of this tower and bring its shields down. Once that's done, the soldiers will ransack it for anything of use. Finally, the aircraft-"

Miles was cut off to the sound of something rising and moving inside the smoke behind him. He spun around just as the thing within the cloud began to chuckle and laugh almost evilly. He saw Bionics' artificial eye shine through the dust and jog in time to his quite maniacal laughter. Miles felt a tingle of fear run down his spine.

* * *

"Did you really think that sort of cowardly attack would work on me?" Bionics' voice was deep and loud and serious. He activated the anti-vehicle laser in the palm of his hand and locked on to the two VTOL attack craft through the smoke. Five small beams formed in the tips of his fingers, came together and launched as a single, constant purple beam. He fired at both aircraft in under a second and both of them exploded and atomised in midair. Bionics leapt out of the smoke and went to his knees with his Gatling laser activated, whirring rapidly and aimed at Miles. The fox's eyes widened with fear and his tails began to spin wildly. They acted like helicopter rotors and Miles took off into the air above, shouting "Take him down! Take him down!"

More gunfire erupted from the soldiers in front of Bionics. His energy shields flared and rippled with each impact like water. He switched his attention to the soldiers and without so much as a second thought began to fire on them. Great purple bolts of energy, firing at a rate of 10,000 rpm, made short work of that front row of Moebian soldiers. Bionics took up one of his energy katanas in his left hand and then stopped completely still. He didn't make a move, save for his Gatling laser still whirring. An eerie state of calm fell over the scene. Instead of all hell being unleashed by this attack there was not a shot was fired from either side, not a shouted order or battle cry issued.

Miles, who was still hovering ominously over the plains, now landed in front of Bionics and glared at him with a look of simple, burning hatred. "What are you?" He hissed softly. Bionics' expression was deadly serious with a hint of anger. "I am beyond any mortal being, Miles Prower. I am beyond your comprehension and your status. If I so desired I could and would wipe out you and your entire army here and now, but instead I offer you a choice.

Leave the vicinity of my Spire now and you all can live, stay and try to fight and all of you will die. You will see no more clemency from me." Bionics stood up, deactivated his Gatling laser and drew up his second, ignited, energy katana in his now reformed right hand. He drew himself up to his full height and looked down on the seething kitsune. Miles breathed in sharply, gritted and bared his teeth and clenched his fists.

Bionics brought his swords slowly up into a defensive stance in preparation. Miles didn't react to this in any way. Instead he simply turned and walked back into his lines. Bionics could tell what was coming next and prepared to make a backwards leap. He heard from within the mass of soldiers and vehicles "end this." Bionics launched himself back as gunfire, missiles, lasers and artillery shells began to land where he was. He almost flew backwards through the air, defying the laws of physics, and back into the safety of his Spire's nigh impenetrable energy shields.

The sound of all the explosions and guns firing was muffled by the immense shield covering. Bionics holstered his katanas and sent a telepathic message to the Spire itself, its core. The message was very simple: _"Weapons online. End this meaningless siege." _And the rest was history, as they always say. The Spire's defence systems powered up and began to systematically wipe out the besieging army. The remaining aircraft were the first to be rendered mere particles.

Second the artillery batteries were silenced one after another. The tanks and the soldiers were utterly purged at the same time. All the while Bionics stood on the wall of the Spire's perimeter watching the carnage beneath him without so much as blinking. He felt nothing in the way of regret as he watched the fires and the laser blasts, no remorse as he heard the explosions and sometimes the screams of agony. As the aircraft, tanks and artillery and any other machines were destroyed he inhaled sharply and blinked as teardrops of his golden blood fell from his right eye: such was his penance for killing the machines under his guidance and rule, even through the Spire's weapons.

His expression of cold and mechanical detachment was set in stone. After the massacre was over he witnessed the scarred ground before him. There was not a trace of any corpse or vehicle husk, everything had been unremittingly eliminated, and not a trace remained save for the smoking, cratered plains beyond. He wiped the blood from his eye, blinked slowly and turned to jump down to the ground beneath him. A warning flashed up on his HUD and he turned slowly back around to...

He was deliberately too slow. Miles Prower flew at him through the Spire's shields like a missile, his face a mask of unrestrained rage, and grabbed hold of Bionics. He launched Bionics to the ground, pinned him there and began to wildly but firmly punch the god in the face again and again. Every time a punch was landed, Prower would force out a word or phrase constrained by fury. "You total... utter... son-of-a... bitch! I will... kill you... for what... you've done!" He stopped and shook Bionics' shoulders as he shouted "Do you understand?! I will kill you!" When he got no response Miles continued to strike at Bionics, who made no noise or attempt to fight back. He just lay there and took it, every last hate-fuelled blow.

After a minute of this Miles had run out of energy and could not continue to vent his anger. Bionics shoved him off his body and stood over the defeated fox. He activated his arm's stun laser and fired a single shot into Miles' head. Miles immediately keeled over unconscious and flopped out undignified. Because it had taken time for this event to play out, there had been time for Lien-Da on high to take a lift down to get to Bionics. His face displayed several bruises, but his face was still stony and full of strangely hollow apathy as he stared at Miles.

"I thought your shields could stop attacks" she said looking concerned. Bionics turned to face her with unnatural slowness. When he spoke, his voice was horribly deep and monotone. "I decided to switch my shields off. I knew Miles was alive, that he would do this."

"You knew, and you just let him?"

"It is a reminder of the pain I have just caused, the bloodshed, the heartache, the families and friends who will never see one of their own again. I killed them. Their blood is on my hands. I could have ended it peacefully, I wasn't good enough."

Bionics just felt empty, he felt as disconnected, as though his emotions had just shut down on him to stop the deluge of anguish at so much unnecessary slaughter. He also felt a strange sense of confusion. Didn't Lien-Da understand how he felt, what this sort of thing did to one's soul? To essentially sign the death warrant of hundreds in a single instant would tear any mortal soul asunder, for gods it did do fair damage to the soul and the conscience.

"But surely Bionics, you couldn't have avoided this outcome" Lien-Da was trying to sooth his grief. It was a noble gesture, but fruitless, and now he began to feel a rising anger inside him. "I wasn't good enough" he repeated, as though these words were the ones to explain everything, but she refused to accept this. "Bionics, Miles would not have been persuaded to leave anyway, even if-"

"Don't you get it? I wasn't good enough!" Bionics felt the anger rise out of nowhere and consume his rational thoughts. He strided over to Lien-Da, who now looked positively shocked by his outburst, and he continued savagely "I have just destroyed so much life in one instant that could have been saved! I failed to save it! If I can't save those who have the capacity to be saved then what use am I here?! Why can't you understand that-?"

He was cut off as Lien-Da slapped him firmly across the face. The noise of it echoed around them and Bionics actually staggered from the force of it. He slowly stood up straight again and felt the right side of face where the slap had landed. It stung like hell. He looked at Lien-Da shocked, while she glared at him with ire.

"Don't _you_ get it Bionics? This thing wasn't your bloody fault! Don't you _dare _think for one moment it was your fault! It was his fault!" she shouted back at him, pointing at the unconscious Miles "and it was Scourge's bloody fault for sending him. He was the one who condemned his soldiers to death with this attack. Stop being so hard on yourself, you deserve better than to beat yourself up for things which aren't your fault!"

Bionics continued to stare at her with awe, still holding his smarting cheek. He didn't know how to react, whether with words, or with a strike of his own, or just to continue to stare at her. He did none of these things. Instead he did something much stranger and unpredictable. He wrapped his arms around Lien-Da and embraced her. He could sense her shock at this, but she made no attempt to break away from him.

When he let go of her he looked her in the eye with a renewed sense of understanding and vibrancy. "Thank you Lien-Da, thank you for that. You're right, it's not my fault, and sometimes it is beyond my control. I just don't want to kill if I can avoid it, and this time I was so sure I could prevent the pain." Lien-Da looked back at him and smiled kindly. "It's all right; there was nothing you could have done. Minds like Miles Prower's and Scourge's aren't open to reason. I mean, not long ago I wasn't a mind open to reason."

"Well, I am glad that you have at least realised your change in mindset. I simply pray that it is for the better." Bionics then turned and looked down at Miles, still without dignity crumpled on the metal floor. Lien-Da also looked and asked "What are we going to do with him? We could send him to the Republic as a prisoner."

"No, I've got something much worse in mind" Bionics said, the fires of silent retribution burning in his eyes. "I'm going to send him back to his master. By my reckoning, Scourge will not take kindly to a failure of this magnitude..."

* * *

"What the hell were you playing at Miles?! I said 'go and show Bionics what happens to those who get in King Scourge's way', as in go and siege his Spire until he's defeated. Perhaps you misheard what I said, Miles, perhaps your ears weren't working too well at the time. Either way, you managed to fail spectacularly in completing what I would think is a very simple task!"

As Scourge stood up in his chambers, shouting furiously at Miles, the fox remained as impassive and unemotional as was physically possible. Scourge felt consumed by terrible anger, he wasn't in the mood for thinking calmly or rationally. He wanted results from his subordinates, not excuses. Miles replied as deadpan as possible, saying "forgive me, your Highness, but the task set to me was in fact far from simple."

"Oh, really, perhaps then you'd care to explain why it was 'far from simple'."

"As it turns out, your Highness, Bionics is more powerful as a god than anticipated. He was able to withstand bombardment from a series of attack helicopter missiles and a torrent of bullets without any ill effects. I believe he had some kind of energy shield active at the time. Also, his Spire's shields can withstand almost any barrage, no matter how concentrated. His weapon systems are more powerful than any other like them on Mobius. That Spire is an unassailable citadel, sir, and any other attack against it would be ineffective at best, a disaster at worst."

"Thank you for your unwanted opinion on how I should go about my battles!" Scourge shouted back at him "get out of here, Miles, don't come back until I'm in a better mood."

"Yes, your Highness" Miles bowed deeply and then turned on his heel and marched out of Scourge's chamber. Scourge felt no better for having got rid of his bumbling first lieutenant. It was the same anger as yesterday. The anger at the knowledge that now Bionics had arrived as a god here on Mobius, and with the power he could wield, He could not only defeat Scourge, but Scourge himself actually feared him.

Bionics was a god of machines. Electronics, hydraulics, mechanisms, robots and weapons were his to control on a whim. He had an invincible fortress, an army of robotic and power armoured super-soldiers, he probably had tanks and attack aircraft and transports for ground and air. At the moment though, Bionics was still lacking one major advantage which Scourge knew for a fact he did have; a sky fleet. Bionics had no large airworthy battleships as of yet, and Scourge had a fleet of them hidden further up the continent, waiting to strike at the correct moment.

This fleet could be the key to nullifying Bionics once and for all. Scourge would just need to find the right time to strike, and maybe find some ways of making sure Bionics' powers didn't affect them so easily. He smiled at the thought of being able to best a god, even if that god was his old friend, and decided that if he was ever to meet Bionics in a one-on-one duel he would need to know how to swordfight. He went out of his chambers to go and see Patch about it. It might just be worth putting up with all the lectures and practice.

* * *

Bionics had dropped Miles off at the gates of Scourge's fortress and vanished instantly before anyone could even get a fix on him. He returned to the Spire where he decided to go and listen to some music to calm his soul. He went to the simulation floor's 'mood room' and went inside. Instantly, the systems picked their new arrival and its current mood. It activated its surrounding simulation systems to project the effect of a beach in old England, and soon Bionics felt like he was actually there.

The beach was deserted save for him and the simulation cheated his senses. He could hear the sound of the waves gently crashing on the shore. He could feel the sand compact under his armoured feet. He could smell and taste the salty sea air and took a lungful of it in. It all felt so real, even after millennia of using this very room it still felt real. He sat down on the sand and flicked up a music track selection menu in the palm of his mechanical hand. He skimmed like lightning through the tracks and eventually found the one he was looking for.

He clicked on the holographic display and his finger found resistance from the solid light. The track selection was confirmed and it instantly began. It was an odd choice for such a tranquil scene, known on old Earth as 'Danse Macabre', but he found it to be quite relaxing in his own way. Besides, he knew about killing and the dance of death all too well. He shook off that thought as the music reached his favourite part. He just sat there, listening to the ill-fitting yet somehow relaxing music and watched the waves sparkle with sunlight as they flowed in and out.

He then decided on something to listen to while having a simulated fly. He didn't need a jetpack or wings for this; he just needed to concentrate for a moment. He took off nearly instantly and flew up to hover staring out over the sea and the horizon. He selected his new desired track using the mood room's mental scan setting and started to glide as it started. It was a peaceful song about the power of love and compassion, and the intro was always his absolute favourite bit. As it played he closed his eyes and held out his arms like a bird as he glided on in imitated flight.

As the main song began to play, it was cut off violently and Bionics opened his eyes and managed to gracefully land on his feet as he fell into the blank mood room. Lien-Da had entered the room and in opening the door had caused the simulation to shut down. Bionics turned to her as she said "what were you doing?"

"Relaxing" Bionics said with a degree of pessimism. Lien-Da shrugged "well, I wondered if..." She tailed off as out of nowhere a new track began to play in the room. Bionics wondered why, he hadn't thought of a song. Then he realised the mental setting must have scanned Lien-Da, and her thoughts and emotions would have triggered the system to select a fitting track for it at random. It was an annoying way of accidentally revealing certain hidden emotions or thoughts. He recognised the intro of the track, but couldn't off the top of his head remember the song or the artist. "What's happening?" Lien-Da asked quickly, looking around concerned.

"The mood room's song selection system is set on mental scan now. It's had a look at your mind and picked a track to suit your current thoughts." Just as Bionics finished saying this, the words started up. _"How can you see into my eyes, like open doors? / Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb/ without a soul..." _Lien-Da began to actually seem quite frightened by the song. Mostly because the song most likely mimicked her feelings about Bionics, or so Bionics thought, but it was partly due to the fact that in some ways the voice singing the track was not that dissimilar from her own voice.

Bionics snapped his fingers and the song stopped instantly. Lien-Da looked around at the room, then at him, then down at the floor. Bionics went over to her tilted his head to one side. She looked at his blank expression and stood up straight, recovering herself quickly. "I... sorry, anyway, I wanted to talk to both you and NICOLE about something on top of the Spire. Bionics nodded and said "of course, lead the way." As Lien-Da made her way to the door, Bionics stood looking at her without moving for a few seconds. He whispered quietly in repeat of the song before last "come with me, and you will see, the light that shines for eternity/ be strong and learn to say, the words 'I love you'." Then he slowly walked out of the room and after the Kommissar.

* * *

Author's notes: My first ever chapter to include music. I am quite irritated by the fact that I cannot post up the names of bands, or possibly even the names of all songs, due to site rules. Because of this I have had to tweak the chapter to fit. Oh well... Anyway, onto other notes. _Persona non grata_ is, of course, Latin. It roughly means 'an unwelcome person', so it fits the need to keep Scourge's army out. All song lyrics from here on in (yes, there will be more) will be in italics unless sung by a character, and will have the dashes to indicate the verses. Thanks go to all those who have reviewed my work so far, please keep it up. Next time we will be seeing our protagonists begin to legitimately aid the Republic of Acorn, and we will be meeting a new and interesting face in 'A Morale Gesture'.

Edit: Forgot to mention this upon initial posting. As it says at the end of this chapter, I write with the idea that Lien-Da's voice is similar to Amy Lee's singing voice (not her _actual_ voice, just her _singing_ voice), Amy Lee of course being the lead singer of Evanescence. I work with this assumption of voice but you may have a different idea of Lien-Da's voice, so just to ensure some clarity for my saying that the singer in the songs Bionics and Lien-Da hear sound similar to the latter.


	13. Chapter 12: A 'Morale' Gesture

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are copyright of Sega and/or Archie comics. Freedom HQ is also their copyright. All things that I have specified as mine are, of course, mine.

* * *

**Chapter 12: A 'Morale' Gesture**

They both made their way up to the Spire's roof in the same lift. Lien-Da felt a bit shaken, but she also felt quite used to it by now. When dealing with Bionics and his personal life on this tower it was a chill a minute. That music that had come on when she had entered the simulation room, how had it mimicked her thoughts about Bionics in that way? Also, why did the female singer sound so similar to her?

She felt cold all of a sudden. A chill sensation flowed through her like ice water. She decided not to talk about it just yet, as now there was a slightly more important thing to do. She was the one who had decided to organise this idea, so she would concentrate on it solely. She felt that she wanted to prove she and the Legion could do some good in all this from her own devising. She had a plan for an attack which would be a symbolic gesture in its way.

Finally, the lift stopped and the pair walked out. Bionics raised his hand up and within seconds NICOLE appeared to them both. "Hello Bionics, Lien-Da, what can I do for you now?" Lien-Da stepped forward and began to explain her plan. "I believe that we should help you in this war by winning a symbolic victory. We need to perform a gesture of morale for the Republic to raise general spirits."

"A good idea" NICOLE agreed with a nod "and what did you have in mind for this 'gesture of morale'?"

"Why, isn't it obvious? What else than the one symbol of liberty that the Republic cherishes the most, what else than the point where Scourge and his army came through? We need to take back Freedom HQ from the enemy to show that they can't hold onto it forever."

NICOLE nodded and stroked her chin once. "A good idea, yes, but at the same time I think we need to make it so that the Republic itself has a part in its liberation."

"Of course, we would only need to help you in achieving it. No offence meant, but you don't care as much about your personal pride as to not except help."

"Yes, Lien-Da, but when you are desperate you will take all the help you can get."

Lien-Da's mind briefly flickered over her saying something similar to Dimitri only two days ago. She did find a tiny pleasure in the irony, but got back to the matter at hand. Bionics then said "Speaking of help, did you get any useful information from that Sparrow I saved yesterday?" NICOLE nodded and smiled, replying "Yes, she helped us to plot troop movements and rotations, and also we know Scourge's supply routes and we plan to disrupt them with help from our Royal Secret Service." Bionics raised an eyebrow and said "very good, an excellent bit of news." Lien-Da broke back in to the conversation "anyway, although I never thought I would be the one to say this, but we are fully prepared to work with you in taking back Freedom HQ."

"Excellent, I will notify the Republic of your plans and see if they will agree.

Two things first: Scourge's forces have been making many attempts to use the computers and technology from Freedom HQ to hack into my own systems and take me over. I've set up some very advanced firewalls, but they are getting close to breaking in now. If they are doing this from Freedom HQ itself, we must stop them all the more. Second, you will need to watch your back over there. Scourge has left a little surprise hidden away inside the building for anyone who dares to try and take it back, so watch out."

Bionics smiled audaciously and said "well, you know what they say. 'Who dares wins', we shall keep our guard up, but like you said it will be the Republic who must symbolically release Freedom HQ from Scourge's grip."

"Very well, Bionics, the Republic has now been notified." NICOLE became silent for the space of 15 seconds and then said "They agree with the plan, they will send in Sonic, Tails and Amy Rose with you to aid in the attack. They will be the ones to perform the more 'symbolic' part of the victory."

"Of course, thank you for your assistance" Bionics said with a slow nod. NICOLE disintegrated into thin air again and Bionics turned to Lien-Da, who now felt the same sensation of anticipation before a battle. He said to her "Well, you're the one organising this mission, I will let you decide what and who to bring."

Lien-Da did have a good think about it. They still wanted to try and keep the Dark Legion a secret from Scourge. So far they had done this in a sterling capacity, the big question of course was what were they hiding the Legion for? They would have to just wait and find out as the days went by. Or of course they could finally reveal themselves now and show that they had a powerful protector backing them up.

The final option was to attack and eliminate every single soldier at Freedom HQ. She asked Bionics about the possibility. "Well, I think I can find a fourth solution. The Dark Legion can attack, you can use soldiers who you trust, and to prevent Scourge's forces from making communication I can generate a jamming signal from which our wavelengths will be exempt."

"Quite a useful feature Bionics, alright then, I will deploy the Legion again on this one." Bionics simply nodded and said "well, we had better start kitting them out for the mission."

* * *

Bionics and Lien-Da called up a dozen members of the Dark Legion and took them down to the armoury. They outfitted them with rifles, shotguns, pistols and some sniper rifles. After this the lot of them went to the planning room and had a look at the terrain around the objective.

Flatlands of grass in front, an area pockmarked and smoking from a long past conflict beyond, and the dense coverage of the Great Forest behind were all that went around Freedom HQ. Scourge's forces seemed to be guarding all sides with a heavy contingent of soldiers. He did not want to give up this symbolic building without a very bloody fight. They decided an aerial insertion would be practical. So far they had seen no hint of anti-aircraft weapons in Freedom HQ's vicinity. Obviously the Republic of Acorn had not fielded a viable transport air force.

Soon the squad was ready to set off. Bionics checked his weapons and, out of a sheer desire to check on it, cautiously drew the elusive weapon sheathed in his scabbard. He did it slowly and reverentially, and brought the weapon up to his face. As he did this the blade grew longer until it was about twice as long as the scabbard from which he had produced it. The sword revealed was about 6 ½ feet long including the foot and a half long handle. Its blade was about two thirds of a foot wide as well, and forged entirely of pure Creator's Diamond.

Everything below the blade was made of a metal as ornate as gold, and yet also harder than any mortal metal, and had Creator's Diamond ornamentation. The hand guard was fashioned into a pair of upturned wings. The pommel's end was missing, as the Creator's Diamond chest piece in his armour could be removed and slotted into place on the bottom of the hilt. By doing so, Bionics would unlock his swords full power and he would transform into a being so powerful he could rival the Great Creator Himself in terms of power.

The sword, named Paragon by Bionics, was as light as an epee, but was built more like a broadsword. He swung it experimentally, and the blade seemed to defy the laws of physics and pass through the floor as though it didn't exist. He sheathed Paragon and went to see Lien-Da as she grabbed her pistol. She was about to take up her bullwhip when Bionics reached out his hand to hold her back.

"I've had the quartermaster make you a new weapon, Lien-Da, have a look at it before you take your normal whip." He led her over to a different table, picked up a thin silver hilt and held it out for Lien-Da to examine. She took it and looked at it from all angles. It looked like the hilt of a sword or the handle of a whip with a small metal sphere at the tip of the hilt where it seemed an energy blade ignited. Bionics said "like my katanas, the weapon is activated by your mind." Lien-Da stared at the weapon, and it ignited.

A blue beam of energy erupted from the hilt and then, against all odds, flopped downwards to the floor like a rope crackling with barely stable electricity. Bionics had created Lien-Da an energy whip. She went over to a clear space in one area of the armoury and cracked the weapon against a wall. The tip left a large electrical discharge on the wall. "A most impressive weapon, Bionics, I look forward to putting it to good use."

"You haven't even seen this weapon's _piece de resistance_ yet. Think about the energy beam becoming straight." Lien-Da looked back at the weapon, there was a few seconds pause, and then the beam suddenly sprang up, became straight and shorter, and became red in colour. From the tip of the hilt the small sphere that was there folded and sprang out to become a hand guard. With just a thought the energy whip had become an energy rapier.

Lien-Da swung and spun the weapon to test its speed and weight, then pointed it deftly at Bionics, who met it with his own energy katana at unheard of speed. Lien-Da smiled at Bionics, pleased, and turned the weapon back to the whip. She deactivated the beam and let it magnetically holster itself on her hip. "It's perfect, Bionics, thank you."

"My pleasure, Lien-Da, I am glad you like it." Bionics smiled and then went to go and see the Dark Legion was ready for the off. All of the Legionnaires had equipped energy bayonets to their rifles if they had them, or had energy swords at their sides. Now they would be able to put that CQB training to the test. Bionics let Lien-Da step forward and give a speech to her soldiers.

"Legionnaires, I never thought I would end up doing what we are all about to do, but these past few days have begun to open my eyes. We must now work to aid the Republic of Acorn in fully ending this war for the better. We must put aside our qualms and misgivings of them and aid them to bring about peace. We will start to save our allies by giving them hope, giving them the resolve to fight once more. We will show these invaders now that they will pay in blood a hundred fold for the death and destruction they have caused not only the Republic, but us in the Dark Legion as well. We will show them that now, reborn by the hand of a god, we will not stand for the bloodshed of innocents anymore. We will defeat Scourge and his army, we will have victory!"

A great roar of exhilarated concurrence rose from within the Dark Legion squad's ranks. They slammed the butts of their rifles, sniper or otherwise, to the ground in one resounding boom, and then readied their weapons with clacks, clicks and high pitched tones as the energy systems powered up. Lien-Da now turned with a smile of eagerness and he nodded back in approval. "We will have victory" he echoed her words softly. He brought out one of his energy katanas and pointed the blade downward and said quietly "Now cry havoc, and let slip the Echidnas of war."

* * *

The transport shuttles that the strike team were travelling in were VTOL by design, had a pair of energy based adjustable jet engines on the sides in front of the troop bay with a third mounted right at the back in between the stabiliser wings. They were pure black and shone like obsidian in the sunlight as they flew in the direction of Freedom HQ. Sonic, Tails and one half of the Dark Legion's attack squad occupied the first transport, while Bionics, Lien-Da, Amy Rose and the other half of the squad occupied the second.

The transports actually made very little noise, and so conversations could be carried out with the need to raise one's voice. Bionics, eager to establish a quick and easy relationship with the one member of the squad he hadn't yet met, decided to get to know Amy Rose. "So, Miss Rose, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Amy turned to face him and her eyes lit up with surprise. Bionics' well spoken, polite and charming demeanour caught her somewhat off guard. "Uh... Me? Well, uh... I just want to end this war and be with my Sonic."

"I wasn't aware that you and Sonic had a relationship."

"Well, to be honest, we don't" Amy said, a sheepish smile crossing her face "I try and please Sonic, I sooo want to be with him, but he doesn't seem to notice me." Bionics' expression became one of gentle sympathy as he said "Oh that is a shame. I don't see why he shouldn't want to be with you, you seem quite a lovely girl." Amy closed her eyes, turned her face away and blushed lightly. Lien-Da elbowed Bionics in the side, hard. His jaw dropped in pain and he gave here a hurt look. She returned it with a look which said _'stop being a flirt'._ Thankfully, Amy was too absorbed in the flattery to notice.

After this, there wasn't another word spoken between them until the Artificial Intelligence piloting their transport piped up, saying "We are approaching the target, distance five hundred yards and closing." As they heard this, Bionics and Lien-Da applied their combat helmets. Now faceless and quite terrifying to look at Amy looked a little disconcerted. She held out her hand, and in a puff of soft smoke a comically large hammer appeared there with a strange '_piko!_' noise. Bionics' eyes widened under his helmet and he couldn't help but say "Diamond Alpha! That's, uh... that's quite a nice hammer."

"Aww thanks Bionics. I'm rather fond of it myself." Amy beamed broadly and hefted the hammer to test its weight. The A.I.'s voice sounded again "two hundred yards and closing; guns, guns, guns." The transports' chin-mounted Gatling lasers activated, spooled up and aimed where the AI pilot wanted to shoot. Seconds later the lasers began firing green bolts of energy with incomprehensible speed. The weapons peppered the area surrounding Freedom HQ and caught up dozens of Scourge's soldiers in a couple of sweeps.

"Landing Zone cleared, ten seconds to touchdown" The transports lowered over the grassy plain and three sets of quadruplet wheels extended from beneath the main body, two at the back, one at the front. There was the slightest of jolts as the aerial vehicles met the ground, the guns still firing to suppress the enemy. "Go, go, go!" Bionics shouted into the comms, and the strike team all disembarked and began to take on the remaining Moebian soldiers.

While the Dark Legion, Lien-Da and Bionics provided the suppression fire along the line Sonic and Amy charged at the closest line of soldiers and Tails flew over them, dropping golden rings which bounced and then exploded. At their Kommissar's order, a few Legionnaires switched to their energy weapons and joined in close combat. The energy shields that were built into their power armour caused any bullets that were aimed at them to disintegrate before impact. Soon these Legionnaires were within the enemy's ranks, cutting them down one after the other.

All the while the transports hovered overhead, acting as gunship support with their Gatling Lasers. The rear guard of Scourge's troops now burst the cover of the forest in an attempt to reinforce the battle line, but it made little difference. Before long they had forced the remaining soldiers back inside Freedom HQ itself. Bionics then concentrated and after 5 seconds he said "I'm broadcasting the jamming signal now, enemy communications are cut. Remember that we can still stay in touch, let's create a perimeter." As Sonic, Amy and Tails mopped up the remaining soldiers, the Legionnaires and Lien-Da secured the entrance to the base.

Freedom HQ, as it seemed to Bionics, was not actually a building designed to withstand any kind of lengthy or serious battle or siege. The main door was made of wood and was the size of a normal door. The walls were made of a very rustic assortment of bricks. A flag pole was planted on top in the hillock, and at the moment displayed a flag in green with the symbol of Scourge's crown over a pair of crossed swords. The building seemed to be more of rear-line base to Bionics, a command centre, a symbolic headquarters.

The squad was split into pairs and they formed a light cordon around the hillock which the HQ was built into. Soon the five leaders, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Lien-Da and Bionics were in front of the building quickly discussing next steps. "Me and Lien-Da will go in first and sweep for any serious threats. If we're ambushed, the pair of us will provide cover fire while you go in and get your hands dirty if possible. Get to the command hub and see what you can find there." Bionics' strategy agreed, the two Dark Alliance commanders raised their pistols and flung the main door open.

They were immediately greeted by a flurry of bullets and lasers from the Moebian occupiers, which either were disintegrated or absorbed according to what type of projectile it was. Both of the pair opened fire at the same time. Laser pistol and Desert Eagle unleashed fury upon their hapless targets and within ten seconds they were all dead. "Corridor clear" Lien-Da called out behind her and slowly the Republic trio walked in. They took in the few remaining dead bodies with a mix of unsettlement and disdain.

"You do know how to make a mess, don't you" Sonic said sarcastically. "Yes I do, I just prefer my Desert Eagle. I suppose you have a problem with that?" Bionics said, not even bothering to look at the Hero of Mobius as he spoke. Sonic sighed and said "I suppose not, but try and at least do something about the bodies before they decay." Bionics, sensing the need to be quick, activated his Gatling laser and... did something about the bodies. "Let's keep going" he said simply and they proceeded carefully into the entrance corridor.

It had to be mentioned that to say the layout of Freedom HQ's interior was simple was, in its own way, an understatement. There was the slightly rounded corridor which led down to the underground common room, the central hub which they had yet to retake, and nothing else aside. Bionics had been secretly hoping for a small honeycomb of corridors and sub-corridors that he could explore and clear out. Instead they checked the underground space for soldiers, of which there were none, and then simply made their way back up to the door to the central hub. To contrast the generally rural feel of the HQ's exterior and entrance, the door to the hub was a side-sliding metal affair and much more advanced.

Upon approaching the door it failed to open, and despite their being a keypad to type in a code, there was no doubt that it would have been changed from anything the Sonic and his cohorts would know. Luckily for them, they had a god of machines on their side. Bionics held out his left hand to the air and several symbols of magitek surrounded it. At the same time he gently stroked the side of the keypad with his right hand's solitary index finger and let out a soothing mechanical warble, completely alien from his normal voice. The keypad responded and the door unlocked without a sound.

"Neat trick" Lien-Da said impressed. Bionics simply bowed his helmeted head in gratitude and took up position a foot away from the door. "You may want to stand back. No doubt they are expecting us." He raised his pistol to stare down the holographic sight and slowly walked towards the door. As it opened he was met with the last dozen soldiers defending the base, behind assorted cover and defences, pointing their guns straight at his head.

"Now is there really any need to fight? You could just-" the hail of bullets and laser bolts from the soldiers cut him off mid-sentence. He sighed as he absorbed every hit and said "or maybe not then" just above the din. He raised his pistol and swept away the last resistance of the Moebian soldiers. Twelve soldiers, twelve rounds in Bionics' modified Desert Eagle, one bullet per soldier. It was mechanically ruthless, but it had to be done. One by one the guns from within went quiet, until only dreadful silence remained.

Bionics raised the gun's barrel in front of his face and blew away the smoke through his helmet's mouth grille. He reloaded the pistol and slowly made his way into Freedom HQ's central command hub. This room was completely at odds with the exterior. Everything was metal, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Also, there were the computers built into the room, lots of them, all on and recently abandoned when the attack began. At least they had stopped Scourge's forces hacking NICOLE now. But where was the supposed 'surprise' left by Scourge? NICOLE said it was meant to be inside the building. He stepped cautiously inside more and opened his mouth to say room clear, but never got any further. Something large, green and with a spike on the end slammed into his chest and propelled him into the wall back in the corridor.

He was embedded in the rock, half buried in it, his arms and legs splayed out as if he was in the middle of a star jump. His four teammates stared at him and then at the door in horror. Underneath his helmet Bionics finally opened his eyes again, groaned and pried himself from the indent in the wall. He arched his shoulders and huffed in annoyance as he put away his pistol and drew his katanas. A sinister yet strangely innocent giggle came from within the central hub. Bionics, being the only one who could see the source of the noise, growled and he launched himself bodily into the room, katanas held out in front of him.

Lien-Da was the first to spin around the door, followed by Sonic and Tails and Amy, and then they all saw Bionics' attacker. A collective gasp and look of shock was issued from them all. Inside the hub, circling around each other, were Bionics and a figure with certain degree of familiarity. It was a pink hedgehog, and was in some ways a spitting image of Amy Rose. She wore a frilly yellow skirt, a white shirt with short green puffed sleeves, white gloves, a red hairband and blue lace-up shoes.

She was physically several years younger then Amy Rose 'Prime', about 11 years old, and her spines were not styled around her head like Amy either. Like Amy she wielded a comically oversized hammer, but it had sharp green spikes on each end. The biggest difference was when you looked into her eyes, narrowed and glinting with utter insanity. Her mouth was frothing with mad delight. This was anti-Amy, more commonly known and feared as Rosy the Rascal.

She let out another high giggle as she swung the mallet at Bionics, who blocked it with his energy katanas blue solid light blades. The very tip of the hammer's handle, where it met the main body, locked between Bionics' crossed swords. He forced the hammer away and somersaulted backwards to avoid another swing. He brought up his katanas into a defensive stance and waited. He was quite concerned because the hammer had magical properties, and so was one of the few weapons which could actually hurt him. "Come on now, miss, there is no need for a fight now." The unknown to him Rosy simply grinned insanely and swung at him again. He jumped over her and landed behind her, turning just in time to block the still swinging hammer.

Then Rosy turned her head and spotted the others standing in the doorway.

"Ooooh, more hedgies and 'chidies to smash as well" She turned and began to run at the others. Oddly enough it was Amy who ran forward first and brought her own hammer to bear. As they connected Amy's hammer made another _'piko!'_ sound. Rosy's expression became one of frustration and wailed "stop that, it's no fun!" She swung again and Amy deflected it again. They flew apart briefly and in that pause Bionics appeared between them with his katanas aimed at Rosy.

"Miss, I really do think you should calm down." Bionics' tone was stern and almost parental. Behind him, Lien-Da looked on exasperated at Bionics, as if she were thinking 'trust him to try and use logic where Rosy had none.' "Bionics, there's no use trying to reason with Rosy, just subdue her."

"Ah, so your name is Rosy, is it? Well then, Rosy, you've still got to deal with me before you deal with the others." Rosy's expression went back to it's originally palette of crazy glee. "That's good enough for me, mecha-hedgie!"

"Mecha-hedgie? Why, I'm almost insulted" Bionics darted forward and landed several blows to off balance his quarry. Rosy could just about block against him and then she swung her hammer above her head and cried out "smashy-smashy, eee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Rosy was completely unhinged and unstoppable as she brought her hammer down. For some reason, even Bionics and his swords and reinforced metal skeleton couldn't block the attack. He was smashed into the ground as it cracked and flew up around him, his katanas deactivated as they flew from his grip.

Rosy, keen to press home her advantage, swung at the prone god and flung him at the feet to his squad mates. Bionics sat up quickly, tore off his helmet, made it disappear and wiped a trickle of golden blood from his mouth. "Now I'm starting to get angry" his katanas flew back into his grip and he leapt to his feet. The others came in now and took up positions beside him. Amy had her own hammer held out, Sonic stood in a stance ready to jump, Tails had a pair of dummy ring bombs at the ready, and Lien-Da activated her energy whip and cracked it at the ground in front of her.

Bionics brought his swords together to form the nodachi and activated it with a thought. He turned to his side and raised the blade above his head, pointing it upside down at Rosy. Not a single glimmer of concern crossed the mad hedgehog's face as she slowly raised her hammer in a lackadaisical manner to charge. Bionics then had a brainwave, if Amy Rose Prime had a crush on Sonic, surely Rosy had some terrible fixation with Scourge. If he was correct about that it could be amazingly advantageous. He gambled and gave it a go.

"Why smash us when you know you want to smash Scourge?" Rosy didn't stop building up, but she did slow down. "You have a Sonic with you, and my Scourgey's a Sonic. I want to smash any Sonics, wherever they may be!"

"Yes, but he's so much nicer than Scourge, I'm sure he's much more of the _attention giving type_." Bionics put the emphasis on the final words because he knew they would have the desired effect.

Now Rosy the Rascal did stop, her expression became one of quiet sadness and burning hatred. "I wanted my Scourgey to notice me, but he didn't care, all I care about is smashing him for that!" Bionics now knew to press home his advantage, despite where this may lead him. He lowered his nodachi and stood up straight. "No, I don't think so, Rosy. Deep down you know all you want is for him to show you some affection and care. I am sure you may want to have some petty revenge, but you know that won't sate your longing to be with him-"

"Shut up!" Rosy yelled in rage as she ran at Bionics. He jumped over and flew behind her, his mind racing with a prayer. '_Oh Great Creator, grant me the power and the clairvoyance to repair this poor soul's mind.'_ Rosy twisted and ran at the source of her new misery, tears of hate spilling from her eyes. "I need to smash my Scourgey-wurgey. I need to, I need to, I need to!" Her swings while now more powerful, were less controlled or guided, thus Bionics could block and dodge her with lesser or greater ease depending. The others watched in horror and fascination at Bionics' new tactic. Psychology seemed to have had an effect, Bionics could do that to people, and he could see what made a mind tick just like it was... like it was a machine.

Bionics, now being quite cruel he thought, did not relent in his almost taunting of Rosy. He called upon files from his Spire's data bank for more information and used it to analyse her. "You could not take being ignored by Scourge, and you tried to make yourself look older to please him, just like Amy, but instead you lost you mind. You cannot think of anything but smashing him, but that is just it. You can't stop thinking about your beloved Scourgey."

"SHUT UP!" Rosy screamed at the top her lungs, her tears flowing more than ever. "Shut! Up! I... I wanna... I wanna be with my Scourgey..." Her voice faltered as she sobbed and tried to speak at the same time. "I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna! I want my Scourgey-ey-ey-ey!!!" She finally lost it; she threw the hammer at Bionics, who leant over sideways to avoid it. It spun through the air and embedded itself in the far wall. Having failed to stop the root of her sorrow, Rosy fell to her knees, put her hands over eyes, howled and cried her eyes out, shaking uncontrollably with each heaving sob.

The five of them stared at her either with shock, pity or both. Bionics himself put his nodachi away and slowly knelt beside the dejected child. She didn't look up or at him, so caught up in her own desolation was she not to care about anything else, as he slowly reached his two index and middle fingers out and placed them to her temples. She looked up in shock as he gently slipped into her mind. If the mind could be described as a series of doors in a corridor or building, Rosy's mind was a crumbling building with doors open wide and in some cases blasted off, all with debris and pulsing evil red light decor.

Bionics looked through doors to see memories and emotions shattered like glass or warped as if by immense heat. He wandered through her being, surprised that she did not fight back. The stress combined with her already prominent loss of control may have helped to explain it. He had been given permission and power by the Great Creator to help with Rosy's mind, but he had been limited to what he could do for the timeline's sake. He had little time, so made his way into the necessary doors, and in particular saw the emotion he really wanted.

Rosy, particularly before she had decided to utilise the Ring of Acorns, had felt that she was inadequate for the hedgehog she adored. Even afterwards through all the madness and the insane exterior that part of her, that terrible feeling of inadequacy lingered inside her. All she wanted was to be noticed by Scourge, she wanted to be close to him, and she felt despair that he wouldn't let her near him. In that moment, Bionics pitied her like no other creature alive. He did what he could and pieced together all the emotions and memories that would aid her and him best.

Before he left he already saw some of the light fade and the debris clear, as though his little effort had already made an effect. He was glad of that as he pulled out of her head. He was back in Freedom HQ, staring at the stricken Rosy. She pulled her hands away from her face and looked at him with still watery eyes. There was no movement or sound for a span of time, and then something really and literally quite unexpected happened.

Rosy leapt at Bionics and hugged him tight. She closed her eyes and kissed him softly on the lips. It was a friendly kiss, a kiss of gratitude, and she squeezed him all the tighter as she did it. Bionics' eyes widened in unbridled shock, he was so stunned he couldn't pull away but neither did he try to kiss her back. He felt the remnant of her tears drip onto his cheeks. Eventually she pulled off of him and he sat up, staring at her, utterly lost for words. In the background all the others had done similar, with the widening of eyes and the dropping of jaws.

Rosy smiled almost happily at Bionics and simply said "thank you." Bionics got a hold of himself as he leant forward and gently placed his fingers to her temples a second and final time. "Go to sleep Rosy, just go to sleep and it will all be better soon" he whispered softly, and Rosy closed her eyes and went out like a light. He gently picked her up and carried her tenderly in his arms. He stood up and walked out of Freedom HQ without a single word to his still taken aback teammates.

He took the sleeping Rosy to one of the landed transports, surrounded by smoke and waiting Dark Legionnaires, and placed her delicately into a seat, where he strapped her in. She smiled in her dreams as he did so. He then hopped out to meet the others, who had now made it outside to vocalise their surprise at what had happened.

"In the name of Aurora, that was intense!" Sonic cried out without a care for decorum. Bionics didn't react emotionally to this. He simply said "I couldn't kill her. She is only a child, even if she has a shattered mind. I repaired some of it. She will be... less prone to violent outbursts now, and she will no longer see us, the Republic or the Dark Alliance as a threat and will not attack us."

"Brilliant" Lien-Da said, with an unusually non-existent level of sarcasm. "The question now is what're we going to do with her?"

"We can't take her to Scourge's fortress. I suspect he will be less than pleased to have the poor girl back, and the Republic have little use for her. Besides, I actually feel quite sorry for her. If it is alright with you, I want to take her back to the Spire to look after her." Lien-Da seemed a little concerned over this, but did not vocalise this. Sonic, Tails and Amy all agreed without hesitation. They were still unconvinced of Rosy's partial mental recovery.

With that decided for now the symbolic aspect of the victory took place. Bionics activated a camera in his eye and had Sonic, Tails and Amy raise the flag of the Republic of Acorn over Freedom HQ, proving once and for all that it was back in the hands of those who made it. Even Lien-Da had been in the picture to cement the Dark Legion's new position as an ally of the Republic. With the picture taken and sent off for the whole Republic to see, they all got back onto the transports, apart from Bionics who had given Rosy his seat, and the aircraft flew off to either drop off Sonic and his companions back at New Mobotropolis, or to the Spire to prepare for the next set of events.

Bionics watched them go, and then mused briefly over how Scourge would take this victory of morale. They had given the Republic of Acorn much needed hope, he personally had done a good deed in helping out young Rosy and they all had proved to Scourge that the Dark Alliance and the Republic were going to be more than just an obstacle in his plans; they were going to be a right royal pain in the arse. With that, he translocated back to the Spire, to plan next steps.

* * *

And unbeknownst to them all, one of the computer screens in Freedom HQ flashed to show it had done its work. It had just completed a computer virus that was designed to infiltrate computer systems and cause great 'pain' to a machine or Artificial Intelligence if it was uploaded into what contained it. In this case, it was designed to affect an A.I. that was custodian of and inhabited a city. Now this virus had already made its way into the city's computer systems and had infected every last nanite. It was ready for use by Scourge whenever he wanted it, and he would undoubtedly use it when the time was right.

* * *

Author's notes: Right, first things first... The reason for the slight lateness of the chapter is due to drama GCSE's taking up my time, so I'm posting this a little early just to keep it all moving. This will mean a slight delay for the next chapter as I will be writing two chapters for this interval. Anyway, onto plot points. Rosy's debut... an interesting one, to say the least. I've always enjoyed examining characters who are totally insane, and I did struggle with how I was going to solve the problem of pacifying her. The result is what you have just read, I hope you like it. Oddly, I was working on this chapter around the time I got into this site, so I had some time to look at how other people had portrayed Rosy. (I should point out that I did not steal anyone else's work.) I realised that I wanted to reveal the tortured soul under the shell of gleeful madness. And here I am rambling in a poetic fashion. Bionics' ultimate sword will play a much larger role in the story yet to come. Why Bionics can affect minds while being a machine god, I will now answer. Bionics is, in my story, a Concilium god and so has access to emergency other powers from the Great Creator. Also, he is very special in ways even he does not yet know about... In regards to speech, yes, Bionics' pre-battle comment is corny, but I couldn't resist. Rosy saying "'chidies" is her shortened version of Echidnas, which I made up. In the next chapter, we will see the Republic of Acorn's highest echelons question Bionics' alliance with them in what will undoubtably be 'A Question of Scruples' (yes, like the game).


	14. Lost Chapter: Double Trouble

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are the copyright of either Sega or Archie Comics. All characters previously specified as mine are mine. Anything specific unmentioned here is not mine, but is copyrighted and I merely forgot to add their specific name.

* * *

**Lost Chapter: Double Trouble**

It was after the assault on Freedom HQ was over. The symbol of freedom for the Republic of Acorn had been reclaimed, Rosy the Rascal had been brought back to the Spire as something of a new ally, and Bionics had generally shown Scourge that he was not going to stand by and let the tyrant take over Mobius. The news, along with the photo taken by Bionics of the victory, had yet to circulate enough through the Republic's conscience to have its true impact yet. It still left those who had participated with something of a buzz, though, and now they were just sitting and waiting for something to happen.

Back at the Spire in particular, the Dark Legion were allowing themselves to savour their triumph in that battle. They had made an impact on both the minds of the Republic and Scourge's armed forces. They had received their honourable mention and commendation from the Republic, and the Legion basked in this newfound positive media. They had become much more of a trusted ally to the 'good guys' of Mobius, and this was sure to lead to much better relationships all over. They all felt, of course, that were it not for their protector in Bionics, they wouldn't have found themselves in this position.

Bionics had separated himself from all others in the armoury. He was busy working on something there for Lien-Da. He knew that he had some considerable feelings for her, even though it had been only three days since they had actually met. To him it felt as though they had known each other for months. He wanted to spoil her a bit, so he decided to provide her with a bit more... cutting edge technology in regards to her power armour. He would provide her with some modest upgrades in the hardware systems of it, such as a private communications suite and improved energy shields.

The best upgrade came in the form of improved selective magnetism and tractor fields in the gauntlets and boots. This allowed the closest thing Bionics could give to Lien-Da that had some semblance to his own powers. With the magnetic systems, she could use it to scale walls and ceilings, like a spider. She could also make sure weapons stayed in her hands or she could summon them from wherever they had fallen on the ground. She would never be staggered unless she allowed and so she could hold her ground very effectively. It was quite a special upgrade, and no-one else in the Dark Legion would have it.

All these abilities combined would ensure that Lien-Da would be a powerhouse warrior. Bionics really did hope that she would approve of it. He was now just making the finishing touches to it. It looked pretty much the same as her old armour. He stepped back and took it all in. He smiled at his work. He was pleased, in no small part due to the fact that he crafted it himself. He decided that she should see it now and test it for herself. He snapped his fingers and sent the armour to the simulator chambers, then sent an Immortal to fetch Lien-Da. He went into a separate lift to get to the simulator chambers himself. This was going to be an interesting end to the day.

* * *

Further up the Spire's vast stature, Lien-Da was lying on her bed in her private quarters wearing her armour. She was a little surprised that the bed could take all the weight of it, but then the power armour itself was actually lighter than she had ever expected armour of this sort to be. It felt odd to wear combat attire in such a comfortable and peaceful environment, but she was beginning to become so much more comfortable wearing it. Her mind suddenly filled with the image of her wearing the suit her whole life, and still having it on while lying in her coffin or on her funeral pyre. She frowned and shook her head to be rid of the thought.

She was contented enough for the afternoon. She had received a fair portion of the battle today, she had been the face of the New Dark Legion as they proved themselves allies of the Republic of Acorn, and she had shown that she had legitimately changed her ways to a reasonable degree. She felt spiritually refreshed, and she also felt that she had a much brighter view of herself now. Despite all this, she wasn't trying to delve too deep into that line of thought. She just wanted to spend some time kicked back and relaxed without having to think or tear herself up over her life at the moment.

Lien-Da closed her eyes and let the blackness of the inside of her eyelids envelop her vision for a moment of quiet harmony, and the silence of the room without the fireplace crackling away helped her in her carefully constructed time of detachment. She enjoyed it for the better part of 20 seconds before she heard a gentle rapping at her chamber door. As her mind was suddenly ripped back to reality she called out on instinct "come in." The door opened and revealed an Immortal standing there, expressionless and eternally devoid of life. "Kommissar, Lord Bionics requests that you meet him down in simulation chambers immediately."

Lien-Da closed her eyes and sighed gently. There was never more than an hour's respite from being in his company. She swung herself off of the bed and stretched her back out with a yawn. Then she grabbed her energy whip and pistol from off of her coffee table and walked out with the Immortal to the lifts. It always puzzled her why they waited for you to join them and then they led you to a place. She knew where the simulation chambers were, so the Immortal didn't need to do anything other than tell her Bionics wanted to see her. It was a curious idiosyncrasy.

They reached the lifts, and got into the one closest to them at that moment. They flew downwards to the simulation chambers, and only Lien-Da got out. As the doors closed behind her, she made her way further into the space until she entered the central foyer to the main set of simulation rooms. There she saw Bionics fussing over what looked like a new suit of power armour. She could see that it had the same design aesthetics that she had on her current armour. It was shaped to fit someone of the female persuasion, but now was just slightly more thick set, as though it had been given more muscle or protection. It also had special vambraces and gauntlets attached to it.

Bionics turned his head to see her and nodded in acknowledgement. "Lien-Da, glad to see you decided to join me." Lien-Da chuckled and retorted "Why on Mobius would I not attend if you asked me to?" Bionics then opened his mouth, paused, turned his eyes to his right and frowned in thought, before closing his mouth again and looking thoroughly awkward. He replied, in an apologetic manner, "point taken. Anyway, I called you down here to show you this." He held out his left hand to the suit next to him on said hand's side. "I've made you a new suit of power armour with some upgraded features to it. I'll show you the new bits once you've gotten into it and had a try of it."

"Wait, you want me to get changed into this armour here and now?" Lien-Da felt a surge of panic. She did not want to strip down in front of Bionics. The embarrassing fact was that she didn't have a bra on beneath her power armour's under suit. Bionics then huffed with casual abandon and reassured her. "Don't worry, Lien-Da. You only need to take off the power armour's plating. You can keep the under suit on and put the new armour on over it." Now assuaged that she wouldn't have to embarrass herself in front of him, she began to take off her power armour's plates and kinetic amplifiers one by one.

Soon she was down to her under suit, which hugged her body in a comfortable yet also somehow revealing way. She quickly reached out and began to apply the new plates of armour to herself. Bionics merely watched on with the look of general disinterest he reserved for such moments as these. Within the span of a minute, the new armour was on her, and she reached out and took the new helmet facemask from its position on a now stripped down robotic dummy. She reverentially applied the new mask to her face and let the rest of the helmet spring from nowhere and slide into place around her head and dreadlocks.

She took her first look through her brand new Heads-Up Display and at first spotted no real difference. Bionics was still outlined in the HUD's standard 'green-for-allies' glow, and she had all the same systems such as clock and general health status. There was, however, one small new box down in the top right corner of the display, and she concentrated on it. It sprung up to reveal an image of the armour with spread out arms and legs. Over the hands and feet was a small red blob each, and above these were the words 'offline'. Bionics spoke up and said "What you are staring at now is the most major of the new upgrades. They are selective gravity pads. These allow you to keep a hold of weapons, stick to surfaces, scale and run up surfaces, and even make boosted jumps."

Lien-Da concentrated on the gravity pad on her right arm, and it almost immediately blipped to green with a beep and the word above it switched to 'online'. She reached for her pistol, and held it up in front of her eyes. She opened her fingers, and the weapon remained firmly attached to her palm. She gave it an experimental shake, but the weapon still refused to dislodge. She reached it down to her hip, and found that the gravity pad temporarily disabled to let the weapon holster itself. She took up her energy whip and did the same with it. Then she activated the pads in her armoured boots and then leant further and further back. Her feet remained welded to the metal floor.

Lien-Da swung herself back up, but did so too vigorously, and her upper body flew forwards. Bionics reacted like lightning. He grabbed her gently and helped her to straighten up. Under the helmet, her cheeks had started to burn with a blush of embarrassment. "Sorry about that" she said through the speakers, her voice coming through with a harsh, robotic inflection. Bionics smiled warmly and placed his left hand on her shoulder. He didn't say anything, but instead turned and made his way to one of the larger simulation rooms, beckoning for Lien-Da to follow.

Once at the door, Bionics turned smartly on the heel and looked at Lien-Da with his hands behind his back. "I wanted to test this armour out against a particularly challenging opponent. Its improved general abilities combined with the gravity pads give you a decided advantage." He indicated the door to the room, and it slid open. "I will pit you against some standard enemies first, and then you will face a 'special' simulation. You go on in, and I will observe you and make notes." Lien-Da put her hands on her hips and said "you're going to just study me like some lab experiment?" Bionics nodded in mock vigour, and said "yes, if I am brutally honest."

Lien-Da sighed and said "alright, let's get this over with." She walked into the simulation chamber and turned in time to see the door shut with eerie silence. She saw Bionics type in something on a keypad outside of the room, look up at her and smile as if to say 'good luck'. Then the simulation activated, and he was obscured as a virtual world engulfed her. Lien-Da took in her surroundings and was pleasantly surprised. She had expected a battlefield, or maybe some urban ruins, something that shown signs of conflict. Instead, she found herself in a large and sleek metropolis. It bore a look that made it seem even more modern and futuristic than most cities on Mobius, if that was possible. She gazed up at skyscrapers and flowing white metals and clear glass. This place was very sci-fi.

Bionics' voice came in over her helmet's radio communications suite as clear as if he was standing right next to her. "I've given you the setting that best accommodates my simulations and the one which you can have the most fun with the new gadgets. Now, if I key in some fleeing civilians..." A few seconds later, a stampede of panicking Mobian citizens came around a road corner in front of Lien-Da and charged past her. The Heads-Up Display outlined them all in a friendly blue. A few screaming voices could be discerned amongst the hubbub.

"...Got to get away..."

"...What are those things...?"

"...Keep running, just keep..."

"...How could this happen to us...?"

"...This soldier will stop them, surely!"

At her mention, Lien-Da woke up and sprang forward into action. She activated the gravity pads in her boots to boost-jump settings and elegantly leapt above the simulated rabble. As she landed, she talked to Bionics over the radio. "Was that crowd really necessary?" The reply that came back was "It just helps to add to the realism of it all. Now, if I were you, I'd be heading for the city centre. I'll give you a HUD marker to guide you to it." On the HUD came a small yellow holographic arrow in the top-centre of her visor. It pointed directly forwards and so Lien-Da followed it. As she reached the corner the arrow swivelled and now pointed right. She smiled and kept on following. Soon the fun would begin.

* * *

Bionics stood at the computer console outside of the chamber and smiled to himself. He wondered just how well she would cope with what he had planned. This particular simulation had plagued him for a good few years now. He had gathered all the information he could, and had tried to beat it so many times, and had now just about cracked it. If it was something he struggled with, how would Lien-Da cope? He felt a tingle of nearly perverse enjoyment in finding out, but then he quashed that sensation and felt guilty for thinking so callously. He would help her as best he could, and would pull her out when enough was enough. He hunched his shoulders marginally and continued to type away.

* * *

In two minutes, Lien-Da had reached the simulated city's centre. It was quite well decorated with shrubbery and fountains and white marble. It looked suitably clean and nostalgic and expensive. It also happened to be crawling with soldiers. Lien-Da was surprised to see they were simulations of Scourge's armed forces. Bionics obviously wanted to pit her against something familiar first. The soldiers all turned to face her and levelled their weapons. Lien-Da crouched into a leaping position and flew upwards and to the right as the first soldiers opened fire. She landed ahead of the shifting deluge of bullets and lasers and sprinted with a newfound speed. Lien-Da brought up her pistol while on the run and was able to target one of the soldiers by the fountain. Her shot hit the unfortunate soldier in the head and he disintegrated into red glowing particles.

By now the enemy's fire had caught up with her, and her shields were starting to become very slightly affected. She launched upwards again, putting away her pistol, and activated the gravity pads in her palms. She landed on the side of a building and stuck there. Once she was stable, Lien-Da scaled it and flipped behind a thick metal balcony. She took a moment's cover behind it as it became riddled with bullet holes and laser burns. She wondered how she had been able to actually scale up anything with Bionics' simulation chamber not appearing to have anything of the sort. That wasn't important now. What was important was finishing off these grunts.

Lien-Da grabbed her pistol in her left hand and her energy whip in her right. She activated the whip and switched it to its rapier secondary transformation. Then she hopped over the balcony and used the wall to rocket herself at the fountain. She landed and sliced the head off of the nearest soldier. The simulated enemies had made the mistake of being bunched up. It was a close combat slaughterhouse. Lien-Da was able to shoot and stab and lithely carve away at the hapless footsloggers. Every time one died, they faded away to reveal themselves as some kind of solid light hologram. Soon, the entire squad had disappeared, and Lien-Da was left on her own with her weapons still active. She gently replaced her pistol and spoke to Bionics over the comms.

"That was entirely different. I mean, the way I could run and jump and _move!_ It was just astonishing! It was almost too easy." She heard Bionics chuckle loudly at his end of the comms, and then he replied "well, to make sure you don't get too cocky, I'm starting the main simulation now. If it becomes too much, just let me know." Lien-Da scoffed and said "I'm sure I can handle it, Bionics." This did not allay him, as his tone of voice indicated when he continued "perhaps then I should warn you that even I struggle with this next simulation. Enjoy!" Now Lien-Da felt that familiar tingle of trepidation run down her spine. If this was something Bionics had difficulty coping with, how would she fare?

She got into a more stoic stance and readied her energy rapier for whatever appeared. She became aware that a bank of smoke or fog was passing over the square. No doubt Bionics was trying to add to the tension and mystery of it all. She felt a little annoyed with him for that, but still she did not complain. When the fog had passed, she looked on and saw what she was supposed to be facing. She frowned and wondered what was going on. She was staring at two Mobians, one of them a squirrel, one of them a skunk, both of them male. She vaguely recognised them from what little she knew of them as Elias Acorn, reigning king of the Republic of Acorn, and Geoffrey St. John, the head of the Royal Secret Service.

Geoffrey was dressed in very dapper clothes, a waistcoat, fine trousers, a long-sleeve shirt, fine leather shoes, and a white fedora hat with a black band around it and a small chip removed from the rim. Elias had a long sleeve t-shirt with a wide neck line, a pair of yellow cotton mitts, a long blue sleeveless coat with a hood and no buttons They also had open belts with a strange device for both of them. Behind her helmet, Lien-Da frowned and said to Bionics "is this some kind of joke, Bionics? I know these two people. Why are they here?" Bionics spoke quickly and said "whoever you think they may be in this dimension, they are not. These two come from a very 'loose cannon' dimension, and they were nearly able to break through to get to other dimensions when they shouldn't. These two are not to be underestimated, and have a very unique fighting method. Fight them, and you'll see."

Bionics then fell silent, and Lien-Da watched as the two familiar strangers looked back at her, then turned to each other and had a quick conversation. The one who looked like Elias Acorn said "well, who do you think this one is, James?" The one who looked like Geoffrey replied "no idea, Elliot, we'll just have to find out once we've defeated it." Lien-Da felt a little confused. Elliot? James? Bionics had been right; these two were not the same as who they looked like. She then said to them "I happen to be a 'she', not an 'it', you know." The two of them looked back at her with calm and serious expressions and the one called Elliot said "Our apologies, madam. A little social decorum does go a long way, doesn't it?"

Lien-Da raised her hand questioningly out to her side and said "who are you?" James huffed and said "the two of us are a single detective." Then the pair of them reached behind their backs and both pulled out a different coloured device of metal and plastic. The devices looked like some kind of memory units. "Let's go, James" Elliot said with certain decisiveness. Lien-Da used her HUD to zoom in on the green device in James' hand. He clicked it, and a small speaker on the side spoke in a clear and loud voice "Chaos!" She then turned just in time to see Elliot do likewise, and his black and purple device chimed "Joker!" They raised their devices in front of them and exclaimed together "Henshin!" James slammed his device into a socket on his belt module, where it seemed to vanish. The device appeared in one of Elliot's holsters, and he placed his device in his extra slot.

He clicked the holsters, complete with devices, to a diagonal slant on the belt module. The same voice announcer said, in rapid succession "Chaos, Joker!" Elliot held out his hands to his sides as a small tornado surrounded him and bits of conjured up debris were added to the mix. The debris then flew into the detective and formed up a set of armour. As the suit completed, James' eyes suddenly rolled upwards and he fell to the ground, as if unconscious. Lien-Da was surprised, but then she set her eyes on the now armoured Elliot. She thought that the suit looked thoroughly ridiculous. He was wearing an armoured bodysuit with a helmet that looked like that of a bug. It had bulbous eyes and a pair of spiky, metallic antennae. One half of the suit, the right-hand side, was black. The other half, the left-hand side, was green. On his left shoulder was a small, thin, flowing cloak.

Lien-Da half-laughed in her helmet, and said through the radio "Bionics, what is going on here? One of them has just collapsed. This has to be a joke, surely." Bionics' voice became very serious. "Don't, for one minute, become overconfident. James' soul has just joined with Elliot's in that armour to form a gestalt entity known as a 'Kamen Rider'. This particular one is named 'Double', due to his unique twin soul existence. Underestimate his abilities at your peril." In retort, Lien-Da said "alright, Bionics, I understand the seriousness of this." Bionics remained silent from his end of the radio. Double then summoned up a cyclone in front of him and sent it spinning at the Kommissar.

It was a good thing her boots' gravity pads were online, or else she would have been swept away by the miniature tornado. She drew her pistol and was able to use the armour's fine-tuned targeting systems to work beyond the hampering affects of the wind and aim a shot at Double. He took the shot in the chest, and it left a small scorch mark. The cyclone dissipated, and Double tilted his head in confusion. "Odd, Chaos has no effect on this one." Without warning, the left side of Double clicked up the holsters in his belt and removed the Chaos device in its belt while the right side remained passive and unmoving. The left side brought up a new device which, when clicked, produced the announced word "Solaris!" The device was placed, and the holsters were slammed back to their diagonal position. The voice cried out "Solaris, Joker!" The left side of Double then went through a colour shift. The green seemed to disintegrate to reveal a bright yellow layer beneath.

Lien-Da did not give Double more time to prepare. She fired her pistol at them again. The Solaris half of Double flexed it arm on reflex, and it instantly stretched in a most obscene fashion to become some strange tentacle. This unusual limb was swung in front of its owner to block all of Lien-Da's shots. The tentacle blurred with its movement, upsetting Lien-Da's vision. She stopped firing, and then she heard something which thoroughly shocked her. From inside the armour, she heard Elliot's voice say, in an argumentative tone "Hey, James! Don't go changing the memory without telling me." It was odd to hear that both voices had a part in the body that made up Double. Now Lien-Da growled, put away her pistol, and raised her energy rapier. It shifted back to being a crackling energy whip, writhing with electricity. She cracked it at the air, and it left an arc of lightning in its wake.

* * *

Outside of the battle, Bionics was still taking notes of the battle before him. Lien-Da was using her armour's abilities well enough, and she was adapting to face an equally adaptive foe. He knew that Double would inevitably use a transformation that she could not beat in any way, but it was merely a case of when she would push it far enough. He checked all the simulation data codes and made sure Lien-Da's vital signs were still at their peak. So far Double had not been too aggressive. Maybe it was a sign of respect to a lady, but then said woman was attacking him, so maybe he was merely waiting for the opportune moment.

His reverie was suitably interrupted by the sound of the door to the lifts behind him sliding silently open. Bionics couldn't hear it, but he could sense it. He turned to see Dimitri walk in, his Dark Legion cloak flowing gracefully behind him. He marched straight up to the machine god and stood up straight, looking Bionics in the eye. "Just what are you doing down here, Bionics?" In response to what sounded like a scathing question, Bionics replied "indulging your great-great-granddaughter to a little challenge of mine. I made her some upgraded armour, and now she's testing it against a particularly sturdy simulated enemy."

Bionics tapped a command into his mounted pad, and a screen was projected in front of them both showing the ensuing battle between Lien-Da and Double. She was now fighting Double in his Solaris/Joker form, and they were both using either a whip or tentacle to pretty much the same effect. Lien-Da managed to spin her whip around Double's tentacle and sent a searing electric shock through him. He was launched backwards with sparks of heat flying from his armour. Dimitri then said, with concern in his voice "this seems a particularly intense battle. Are you sure Lien-Da can handle this adversary?" Bionics looked at him and said. "Do relax. I'm sure Lien-Da will not come to any harm."

At that exact moment, they both heard a cry and turned to see Lien-Da on screen being thrown bodily into the plaza's decorative fountain, which collapsed all around her. Bionics said "ooooh" and winced. He turned back to Dimitri with a pained expression and said "well, she won't come to any _serious_ harm, then." The Dark Legion's Grandmaster sceptically raised an artificial eyebrow at Bionics. In the end, the god wilted under the look and said, irritably "I will end the simulation before she comes to any major or life-threatening injury, okay?" With this, Dimitri looked satisfied and they both turned back to the screen to continue watching Lien-Da's progress.

* * *

By now, Lien-Da was getting quite mad. The adrenaline was flowing through her and her mind was becoming engulfed by the red mist. All she could think about was fighting and destroying this tenacious enemy. She was next to a building, and ran along the side of a wall to outpace Double's infernal Solaris tentacle. She had changed her weapon back to its rapier form. She then stopped on the wall and waited for Double to make another swing. As he did, she brought her energy blade down upon it, hacking a sizable chunk off. The Kamen Rider yelled in pain, but no blood emerged from the severed limb, indicating its auxiliary nature to its owner true body.

Double's hand formed up from what was left of his arm. He looked up at Lien-Da and then Elliot's voice emerged from him. "I think we need to find a new tactic for this one, James: Try Iblis combined with Metal." Both halves of Double flicked up the belt module, removed their memory devices, and in its place they pulled out a red one and grey. The former shouted "Iblis!" upon being activated, and the latter shouted "Metal!" They were both placed in the module and combined with one another. "Iblis, Metal!" was announced before the yellow of Solaris fell away to reveal the new red half that symbolised Iblis, and the black and purple of Joker fell away to reveal the grey and silver of Metal.

From off of his back, Double took off a short metal staff, which then extended out to become combat-ready at its full 4½ foot length. He spun it around to get a feel for the weapon. Then James' voice emerged from Double, saying to Elliot "shall we cut to the chase and use Maximum Drive?" Elliot's voice replied "hey, why not." The Metal memory device was then removed from Double's belt and slotted into a port on the staff. The voice announcer cried out "Metal, Maximum Drive!" Double held out his staff directly in front of him one-handed and suddenly the extensions of the weapon ignited violently into flame.

Lien-Da reasserted her firm grip on her energy rapier and held it in a two-handed position. She stood sideways with the blade running past her chest, ready for either a block or a quick stabbing motion. The flames on Double's staff began to flow backwards, as though in a high wind. As one, the voices of Elliot and James said calmly "Metal Branding." The flames re-intensified, and Double's feet shifted into a position ready to sprint. Kamen Rider Double sprung forward, at speeds matching what Lien-Da had seen both Sonic the Hedgehog and Bionics easily achieve. As he got within 4 feet of her, Double swung the flaming staff around to strike her. She positioned her rapier's blade for the inevitable strike.

It never came. It took a moment for her to fully realise that Double had stopped moving. He was in a position whereby if he was to hold the position he currently did, he would topple over from the unbalanced weight distribution. Lien-Da suspected she knew exactly what had caused this. She spoke into her radio "Bionics, what's going on?" From the other end of the communiqué, Bionics' voice was deadly serious. "I have frozen the simulation, and will be terminating it shortly." Lien-Da felt a sudden surge of anger hit her mind. "Why?" she shouted down the comm. link, "I was still fighting Double, why stop me now?"

She heard Bionics sigh, before saying "I tell you what, if you step a foot or so to the left, I will show you what would have happened if I had allowed the simulation to continue." She did as she was told and moved to the left of Double. A holographic copy of herself in her new armour blipped into place, and it held the same pose she had held just 30 seconds ago. The simulation started up again, and she watched as Double broke past her copy's blade block. He planted several hard hitting blows of metal and fire all across her body, and she was launched backwards by an explosion from the stabbed end of the staff. The simulated Lien-Da collapsed to the ground, half on fire, half smoking, and all dead.

The real Lien-Da could not help but gasp and by mentally shaken by the idea that this was what would have happened to her. She stared at Double, who had now been frozen again, and Bionics said to her "I think it was best that I stopped him there. You wouldn't have died here, of course. You would merely have been knocked unconscious by the program. In real life, however, Double's power would have been enough to end your life. Standby, I'm terminating the simulation now." As he said this, Lien-Da watched as the entire city, and her enemy slowly faded away from sight, and she was surrounded by the sleek metal of the simulation chamber once again.

She holstered her weapon, took off her helmet and went to the chamber door. Bionics and Dimitri were there to greet her upon egress. She looked tired and a little sobered by the sight of herself being dead in simulated form. Bionics put his arm on her shoulder and said, soothingly "don't worry, that won't happen to you any time soon. Double was a tough adversary. Even I struggled against him, you know." Now Bionics began to sound bitter, as though he took Double's defeat of him as deeply personal. "No matter what I tried to defeat him with, he was always able to adapt. He and the Kamen Riders' powers are enough to tackle the gods, and I swore that I will make sure to subdue him any way possible when I find him, one way or another."

Then he paused, shook his head and smiled at both Lien-Da and Dimitri. "But you don't need to hear anymore violent talk from me. I hope that you have learned a great deal from this session, Lien-Da. Use it well." Lien-Da nodded, and now felt a sense of revived happiness. Bionics went on "I believe it will be time for dinner soon. Let us get there and join your cohorts. I think a glass of wine will do me some good." They all made for the lifts. As they went, Lien-Da couldn't help but wonder where the real Elliot and James were in the Multiverse, and just what they were doing...

* * *

Far away from Mobius and the surrounding dimension, James was sitting in a chair in their office in their equivalent of New Mobotropolis. Without any warning, he sneezed quite violently. He managed to disturb Elliot from repairing a Gaia Memory gadget, and he earned a stern glare that could sear metal. James looked back and said "What, I can't help it if I sneeze, can I?" Elliot raised an inquisitive eyebrow and then went back to his work. James then tried to stay quiet for a while longer, but he felt a certain sensation, and he was compelled to share this sensation with his partner.

"Hey, Elliot, do you know if you're supposed to feel a sense of déjà vu when you sneeze?" Elliot looked back up at him and reached for his personal PDA. "It is known for certain cultures to believe that you sneeze when someone is thinking about you." At that moment, Elliot's face contorted and he sneezed as well. James looked at him with an idiotic grin, shrugged, and replied "I don't know. It's just that I get the sensation that we _are_ being thought about somewhere else, somewhere a long way away from here." Elliot gave an annoyed exclamation and snapped "I don't have time for any more spiritual crap. I need to get on with this now." James looked at his friend with a sigh, then turned away and went back into his thoughts again. Someone out there was thinking about them both, he knew it, and he knew that soon they would be seeing beyond the confines of their own dimension once again.

* * *

Author's notes: Dear readers, I apologize for the long absence since my last update. I am afraid that my GCSE, combined with a serious bout of writer's block, has resulted in the story going underground for roughly a month. The thought of all of you waiting so patiently for me helped me to throw off the writer's block and so I could get up off of my sorry backside and get some of this done. To make up for the lack of updates over this period, I will post this chapter today and the next one, chapter 13, tomorrow. I do not know who the copyright for Kamen Rider goes to, so you'll have to forgive me for not knowing. In terms of Kamen Rider memories, Chaos = Cyclone, Solaris = Luna and Iblis = Heat. This chapter comes courtesy of both me and brave kid, so some of the credit must go to him for convincing me to write this. It will be the taster for a story I intend to write at a later date about a Sonic/Kamen Rider Double crossover. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please do not forget to review. Remember, 'a review a day keeps the writer's block away'. Tatty Bye!

Edit: brave kid had informed me that I mixed up the characters. Geoffrey is Elliot and Elias is James. The modifications have been made, so feel free to read it again with the corrections added. Thanks again to brave kid for pointing the issue out to me.


	15. Chapter 13: A Question of Scruples

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and related characters are the copyright of either Sega and/or Archie comics. The Source of All and Zone Cops is also Archie's copyright. All characters I have previously specified as mine are mine, plus the theory of why gods have golden blood (read on to discover the truth).

* * *

**Chapter 13: A Question of Scruples**

Lien-Da had been accurate about the effect that symbolic victory would have on the stricken Republic of Acorn. Taking back Freedom HQ had shown the Republic that now they had powerful allies, and their heroes were still up and kicking to boot, pun unintended. Wherever the Republic and its allies were fighting to protect their interests as well as the liberty of the planet, they fought with renewed vigour and resolve. The word was out: They had a god on their side, a living, breathing, fighting god, and he would help win them this war.

And so it was that on the fourth day of his campaign, Bionics set about building up small armies of all his units to be dispersed across the continent and beyond to fight back against Scourge. Taking into account Lien-Da's suggestion of names, and wondering why he hadn't done this before, he gave an unofficial nickname to all of his military units save for his captains. He had the Immortals, Ghost sniper/scouts, Wolfhound APCs, Predator tanks, Seraph fighter-bombers and Guardian air transports.

He split these forces up into equal and effective attack groups, keeping several Immortals, Predators and Guardians for his and the Dark Legion's use, and then these forces left the Spire on a crusade to liberate this continent, the Kingdom of Mercia, the Badlands and Downunda and restore the peace they had been tasked with achieving. Now the main part of ending this conflict was coming to fruition. Bionics sat on his Spire's Throne of Observation and watched his forces disperse into the distance. He checked his clock; 9:30 a.m.

He licked his lips and sighed instinctively, with the bulk of his military out liberating the continent it made local operations a little more strained. Well, not really. He was a god, his military forces were beyond any mortal, he had the Dark Legion as his elite strike force and with the Republic forces about to be relieved continent-wide they could recuperate and fight back. Yes, it was all starting to fall into place exactly as Bionics wanted it to. Hopefully, Diabolus wouldn't be making any attacks soon either, so he could get this war out of the way, then regroup and be fully ready for the Ultimate Evil when he did turn up.

Bionics sat back in his throne and felt the breeze blow against his face. Even 5 miles up the weather was impeded by the Spire's shields. He closed his eyes and relaxed for a moment. Things were going well.

* * *

Down in her bedroom, Lien-Da also felt quite elated about things. In a way it was still weird to think that four days ago she and the Dark Legion had been in terrible trouble, and now it was as if all their prayers had been answered. They were now powerful and elite thanks to Bionics. To share in the power and weapons of a god felt, in its own special way, glorious. True, they were fighting for the Republic now and were under Bionics' wing and suggestions, but for some reason this didn't matter as much as it used to.

She felt that now, even after just half a week she really did quite like Bionics. She could be herself, she could share her secrets with him and he would be respectful of her, she could _trust_ him like she had barely trusted anyone before. Lien-Da was lying on her bed, wearing her leather bodysuit again, with her hands behind her head and a small smile on her face as she stared at the ceiling and thought on. She felt lighter these days, that was the odd thing. She felt that somehow Bionics' positive nature and philosophies had left a huge impact on her, more than she had ever dreamed possible. He had even just provided her with specially upgraded armour of her own yesterday, as a magnificent token of their relationship.

She did wonder though, she wondered if her feelings for him would grow even more, she wondered if she might... She couldn't even bring herself to say the word in her mind. She wondered if the same could apply to him. Could he have greater feelings for her? She already knew the answer anyway. The Soultouch was really having an effect. Both of them knew about it, all they had to do was fully embrace it and their feelings for each other. It was literally only a matter of time now. A few days ago she would have shuddered at the idea of her experiencing the Soultouch, now however she almost felt like it would be a release to get it over with. She decided that she wanted to talk some more to Bionics. It was that nagging desire inside of her to socialise with him, to be with him.

Lien-Da got up off the bed and walked through her bedroom doors to the lifts. She got in and it whisked her up to the Spire's roof. She got out seeing Bionics on his throne. His eyes were shut and his face was slightly contorted as though in painful recollection of something. He appeared to be dreaming. It occurred to Lien-Da that she had never actually seen him sleep. He just seemed to be constantly awake and up here, watching over the planet below. She walked up to him, stood beside him and whispered in his ear "Bionics?"

Bionics' eyes opened instantly in shock. His upper body flew slightly forward as he woke violently from his dream state. His breathing was heavy as the adrenaline surged and then died down. Lien-Da had moved back a bit when he had burst awake. He turned to look at her and his expression calmed instantly. "Oh, Lien-Da, thank the Creator." She smiled at him as he relaxed again. He continued "I was... asleep. Good grief, it's... it's been a long time since I last did that."

"It's been a long time since you last slept?" Lien-Da asked concerned.

"Yes, six hundred years to be exact" Bionics said sleepily. Lien-Da's eyes widened with the surprise of such an astonishing fact. "It must be terrible not sleeping." Bionics nodded slowly and said "well... yes and no. You kind of get used to it after a while, and besides when I do sleep it's always the most awful nightmares. I've not had a decent night's sleep since a year or so after I first became a god. I decided that it was worth staying awake to avoid it. As a god I can often go without sleep, but at the moment... I don't know. I feel quite fatigued for some reason."

Lien-Da felt a degree of sympathy for him and sat down on the arm rest next to him. He smiled thankfully and looked up at the bulbous cumulonimbus clouds gliding on in the sky. Eventually he sighed and said "You know, Lien-Da, I really think that this particular mission is quite a life changer. I know in my heart that I'm going to come out of this a changed man, be it for better or worse. I hope I make the right decisions in this."

"So do I Bionics, so do I" Lien-Da joined Bionics in staring at the clouds above. The wispy, puffy contrast of white on calm azure blue helped to sooth her mind. It was quite refreshing just to sit there and enjoy a quiet moment together.

Bionics then turned to look back at Lien-Da and said quietly "Choices... Do you know the gifts that the Great Creator has bestowed on us? All the gifts that he saw fit to present the Multiverse with, and yet we take for granted?" Lien-Da couldn't help but think _'here we go with another philosophy lesson'._ She replied "I believe I do. The gifts of gods are the ones which mean we are here today."

"Yes... and He gave us so much, so many gifts that we should be eternally grateful for. The Gift of Life, the Gift of Sentience, the Gift of Emotions, the Gift of Reproduction, with these gifts we have populated the Multiverse according to His will. The list still goes on, but do you know the most important gift he bestowed on us, Lien-Da?"

"No, tell me Bionics."

Bionics' eyes glistened as he said "He gave us the Gift of _Choice. _We can choose what we do with our lives. We can choose whether to be good or evil, whether to make peace or war, whether to listen to our minds or to our hearts. We have the choice to sacrifice few to save many or many to save few, and of course we can make the supreme choice between duty and love. Soon we too will make that choice, and I pray that we make the right one."

Lien-Da felt a little alarm bell of concern clock away in her head. He had said the word she struggled with earlier, the 'L' word. She felt uncomfortable using it obviously because she was worried the word could be applied to her and Bionics just yet. She liked him that was certain; they were now quite close friends even after such a short span of time. Despite this she didn't yet know if she really... well... if she really... loved him. She shuddered mentally at finally using the word. It just felt so weird, and yet it also felt somehow... right.

She shifted uncomfortably on the arm rest, but Bionics appeared not to notice this. He just continued to stare at the sky. They just sat there for about a minute, watching the large clouds soar past. Then there was a noise in front of them and they looked down. NICOLE was composing herself to speak with them. Bionics stood up and walked down to meet her. When the A.I. had finally fully materialised bionics took a deep bow. "Greetings NICOLE, what can I do for you now?"

"Bionics, the Council of Acorn has requested that you come before them to properly discuss certain things about our coalition." Bionics' expression became one of concern. "I thought that we in the Alliance had already sent our terms, plans and agreement on the matter."

"That is not the main concern that the Council want to meet you over. I am afraid that a few of the Council members are not convinced that you are actually working to help us, they think you plan to stab the Republic in the back."

Bionics' expression, in that instant, became thunderous. His artificial eye actually pulsed red for a moment to display his anger. "Really, they think I could be a traitor, do they? Let me tell you something, NICOLE, if there is one thing in the Multiverse I cannot stand or abide by, it is traitors! How dare your leaders have the gall to suggest that I could stoop to such low standards?" Lien-Da looked shocked behind Bionics.

She had never seen him lose it like this. NICOLE must have really struck a nerve; Bionics obviously couldn't stand traitors. She decided to intervene. "Bionics, there's no need to take this out on NICOLE, save it for your accusers." Bionics froze on the spot, and then his expression cooled to one of apology. "Of course, my most sincere apologies, NICOLE, you don't deserve that sort of anger from me. Tell the Council of Acorn that I will arrive in fifteen minutes."

"They have now been informed" NICOLE bowed her head respectfully to the machine god, and then disappeared.

He turned to Lien-Da and said "Do you want to join me on this one? I will need to check on young Rosy before we leave" Lien-Da wondered if her presence might cause some escalation, but even so did not like the idea of being left here with only Dimitri for company. "Yes, I'll join you. What about Dimitri?"

"What about him?" Bionics said almost nonchalantly. Lien-Da paused, and then smiled at his audacity. "Don't ever change that attitude, Bionics." He smiled back at this cheekily and said "Absolutely not." Bionics led her down to the level with their bedrooms in and he led her to a door on the opposite side of the corridor from Lien-Da's own room. They went in through the doors to see Rosy sitting on her bed and looking into the log fire opposite her. She turned to see the pair of them walk in and grinned enthusiastically. She said soothingly "ooooh, hello Bionics. What are you here for?"

"Just checking up on you, my dear" Bionics said with a reassuring smile. He continued "I tell you what. If you want to work off some energy and get a bit of practice, one of my Immortals can take you down to the simulators so you can smash a couple of Scourgeys or similar, how about that?" Rosy's eyes lit up like headlights being switched on. She grabbed her hammer and shot up in front of Bionics saying "yes please, pretty please. Please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-pleeeaasse!" Bionics held out his hands to calm her down and said "yes, alright, alright." And as if by magic, an Immortal appeared and led Rosy away for her to smash things to her heart's content.

Bionics turned to Lien-Da again and said "now Rosy is seen to, let us go to see the Council of Acorn." He took hold of Lien-Da's hands in his own and said "close your eyes." She complied with this and then a few seconds later she felt the familiar change in atmosphere around her that meant they had translocated. She opened her eyes to find themselves outside Castle Acorn, slap-bang in the middle of New Mobotropolis. The capital city of the Republic of Acorn was quite utopian in nature. It was built inside a circular wall perimeter similar to the Spire's, but you could not stand on the walls. Energy barriers were generated from this circumference, a great metal dome was also integrated into the city for additional siege protection, and built into the wall were small hologram generators for NICOLE to speak to people outside.

Just inside the walls was a thick set of trees to give the impression of woodland. Even further in, and even within the trees, were the houses of most of the common people of New Mobotropolis. At the core of all this of course was Castle Acorn, elevated and standing tall above the rest of the city on a hill. Around this were larger and modern looking building as offices, education facilities, and science facilities and also what appeared to be a detention centre with a high tower reminiscent of the Spire in a small way.

Lien-Da before this had never actually been to or seen New Mobotropolis, and to see it now; so beautiful, so clean, so perfect, it left her feeling awe inspired. Bionics knelt down beside her and touched the ground with his right hand. He made another of his soft mechanical warbles and the magitek symbols appeared around his hand which meant he was exerting his power. The supposedly solid ground beneath him actually rippled and it revealed its secret to him. This entire city; everything from the trees to the buildings to the ground beneath their feet was composed entirely of nanites.

"Remarkable!" Bionics exclaimed with astonishment. "This place is just exquisite. It's all nanites, all machines! I can feel it around me like a living thing Lien-Da, the city is alive. It's glorious!" The sheer excitement and happiness in Bionics' tone of voice made her feel quite at odds with the angry emotions he had displayed mere minutes before. Bionics behaved like someone standing at the gates of heaven, arms outstretched to his sides and his face turned to the sky with his eyes closed. He took a slow, deep breath and then exhaled slowly as well. He lowered his arms and then turned to face the somewhat confused looking Lien-Da.

"Shall we go and meet the Council now?" He said as he pointed out the castle ahead. Lien-Da simply nodded quickly and then they both walked up to Castle Acorn side by side.

* * *

The architecture of Castle Acorn was, in Bionics' eyes at least, based on a degree of ancient, old Earth cultures. Many specific designs he knew about from the history archives were present. Foliage in the form of trees and 'neatly' overgrowing shrubbery, combined with large holes in certain parts of the surrounding walls for water to gush out and fill up ponds beneath, gave the castle a touch of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The way the castle itself was design harkened back to castles of old. It had a moat encircling it for defence or for artistic licence. The castle itself was shaped like a giant pear with a smooth design in the setup of the walls. The flat-topped towers flanking the main entrance had foliage growing and overgrowing on top, as did the high wall surrounding the main building inside the protective outer walls. Inside of these walls were semicircular stone slabs arranged on pillars reminiscent of ancient Greek or Roman ruins.

The inner building wall, above the gate, showed a pair of towers with coned roofs and blue flags flapping in the wind. On the very top of the main building was a dome, and on top of this were a large quartet of stands which curved in to form and act as the support from which a stone acorn hung. Along the gate towers and second tier were blue banners with acorns emblazoned upon them. At the opposite end of the outer wall from the gate was a large fortress-like tower to guard said end of the castle.

It was a symbol of power and sovereignty standing over the shining capital of all Mobian-kind. New Mobotropolis, just like its predecessor Mobotropolis, was a mixture of most, if not all, different cultures on Mobius. It was a community ready to accept other Mobian cultures into their own. Bionics felt that this place was something of a beacon of hope in a world of tyrants, dominions, xenophobia and distrust. It was not perfect, but it was better than some places.

Bionics and Lien-Da walked through the gates, up the steps and through the castle corridors side by side. Most of the interior seemed to be relatively plain by castle standards, but then Bionics was not really paying attention to the surroundings. He was still smarting mentally from the accusation of being a traitor. It was a belief in many gods that to be a traitor was the ultimate sin, as Diabolus himself was the ultimate traitor who still haunted them to this day. Because of Diabolus, absolute treachery to Bionics was utterly unacceptable and was to be punished by death or something similarly harsh. A bit extreme perhaps, but such was the fate deserved by those who would abuse the gifts bestowed on them by the Creator.

Finally, both of them made their way through a set of large double doors near the top of the castle and into the council chambers beyond. It was quite a pleasant sight in some regards. The council chambers were composed almost entirely of marble. It was backed by a large glass window with a curved dome-like top. Around the room were smaller, thinner windows shaped like archways. On either side of the main platform was a pair of white marble pillars to give an air of quality in architecture. The platform itself was a large half circle which rose up from the outside until it peaked in the middle.

The platform was essentially a table of fine mahogany built on a rising, ribbed wooden base behind which the Council of Acorn sat. Emblazoned in the centre of the wooden base was an acorn surrounded by a yellow background and a scarlet circle boundary. The Council of Acorn consisted of seven people. The two outermost members were a brown male porcupine and a purple female duck. The middle seated members were a male pig and a violet male walrus with a pair of square half-framed glasses. The innermost members were a blue male hedgehog similar to Sonic the Hedgehog but with small round spectacles and a thick grey moustache and eyebrows, and a light brown female fox with long fiery red hair and green eyes.

Seated at the very top of the table above the other members was a male squirrel who Bionics swore blind bore an amazing similarity to Princess Sally. He had the same eyes, the same colour hair, the same fur colour and a similar face. He wore an ornate golden crown on his forehead and had the determined look of one who could govern the hearts and minds of a nation. All of the Council of Acorn wore blue uniforms with red neck and sleeve collars and a red sash running around them from the left shoulder, but the crowned squirrel's uniform had decorative golden military dress lapels. Bionics also recognised the face from somewhere else. He was the spitting image of James, one half of Kamen Rider Double who the god had fought before, and who Lien-Da had been tested against yesterday. Bionics tried to ignore the urge to fight the Squirrel and stay focused.

He also felt greatly taken aback. He knew the Republic was a democracy, but he hadn't expected a constitutional monarchy. Then again, with a 'Princess Sally' he should have figured it out. He and Lien-Da made their way right in front of the council table and stopped. Bionics made a low bow of respect to them, and Lien-Da followed. The squirrel cleared his throat and said "I am King Elias Acorn, and this is the Council of Acorn. We are pleased to make your acquaintance at last, Mr Bionics."

"Begging your pardon, Sire, it is 'Lord' Bionics officially. However, Bionics alone will do fine" Bionics said both seriously and apologetically, as though the aforementioned formality were an embarrassment. King Elias raised a questioning eyebrow, but then continued "very well, Bionics it is then." He turned his head to look at Lien-Da, saying "and Kommissar Lien-Da of the Dark Legion, a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Sire" Lien-Da said, bowing her head courteously. Bionics could see from some of the looks of the Council that not everyone agreed with the king's opinion on the Kommissar.

Elias turned back to Bionics and asked "I assume NICOLE told you why we requested your presence here?" Bionics' expression became instantly stony again, and he nodded slowly, deliberately. He replied "yes, Sire, it would seem some of the venerable members of the Council are not convinced of my honour being genuine enough for them."

"Just so, their concerns stem from various factors which I believe would be best for them to explain. Do try not to take offense if we strike a nerve."

"Of course, Sire" Bionics said, crossing his arms over his chest. Elias turned to look down the table at the pig seated in the middle tier on the Bionics' left "Councillor Hamlin?" The pig cleared his throat and said "Well, Bionics, my concern over your authenticity comes from the fact that if you really planned to help us, you would have come to us directly, not the Dark Legion."

Bionics raised his right eyebrow and then said back "a fair point. I helped the Dark Legion first, as I told your emissary party two days ago, because they were only a mile and a half away from me and were at near crisis point and close to utter destruction. I aided them also because their technologies were most compatible to mine. I desire to bring peace to this planet in accordance with my duty, how I go about doing that duty is up to me." Councillor Hamlin seemed unconvinced, but he let it stand. Now the female fox on Elias' immediate left looked squarely at the god of machines. "I am Councillor Prower, Bionics. I must say that our concerns really come from the fact that certain things you have claimed about the nature of the Multiverse do not add up to what we know about it."

"Really, well could you tell me some of these believed inaccuracies?" Bionics said curious yet serious. He was curious more because he realised he was talking to Tails' mother than anything else. It really was a small Multiverse... well, figuratively. Councillor Prower continued "Firstly, you say that as a god, you are one of the beings charged with watching over the Multiverse, but we know that there are the Zone Cops in the No Zone for that. How does that work?" Bionics let the smallest of smiles twitch across his face, before saying "Yes, the Zone Cops watch over all the dimensions of this universe. I am using the terminology we gods use to describe the Multiverse now, so you will have to try and be patient with me. The Multiverse is much bigger than you realise. Your Zones, or dimensions, all form up to create only a single universe. You can occasionally cross zones, but you will most likely never escape the confines of your universe. Beyond this universe are thousands of others, each one formed in a similar set of dimensions, but each with own unique physical laws and properties. There are universes where there is no magic and some where there is no science. There are some with no Mobians and no Chaos Emeralds and nothing of that sort. This is the true extent of the Multiverse, your Zone Cops watch over this universe and set of dimensions, but we gods watch over it all."

All the council were fascinated by this revelation, but Prower continued as calmly as before. "You also claim that it was this 'Great Creator' who made everything in the Multiverse, but we believe that it was something called the Source of All that created it. Perhaps you can find a link or give us the truth." Bionics had sort of been expecting this sort of thing, and he answered "yes, I believe I can. The Great Creator of All Things Holy, my master, created everything that is not damned or tainted in the Multiverse.

He created the 'Source of All' as the energy field on which to build and maintain the Multiverse. As you no doubt know it is sentient, and a little bit of it inhabits every living thing, but it did not create the universe or the Multiverse of its own accord, it is merely a tool of my master. Gods have their power because they have a much higher concentration of the Source of All in their bodies, particularly in the bloodstream. Gods are one with it and it is one with them." As Bionics said this, symbols of magitek surrounded his head like a halo and his Desert Eagle rose off his hip and into the air without him touching it. It slowly disassembled itself and spread itself out for the Council to gaze in wonder at. Bionics was of course demonstrating the powers the gods got from the Source of All.

He continued "The Source inside each god is adapted to his or her specific speciality, such as mine being machines, and depending on the status of each god they can have a higher or lower concentration of the Source. I am a member of the Creator's elite 'Concilium', His chosen six gods who encompass all the major forces in the Multiverse and are the second most powerful beings in the Multiverse next to the Creator Himself. As such the Source concentration in me is at its highest, which is why my blood is gold in colour, but is specialised only to machines and some very, very basic other abilities. I am the all encompassing machine god, or _Machina Deus_. I am, in essence, the Alpha and Omega of all things mechanical." The Desert Eagle reassembled with breakneck speed and flew back to its wielder's hip.

The Council of Acorn stared at Bionics with a mix of shock and awe. They now seemed to be lost for words. Bionics believed he had proved that he was a god in his description of things, but if so he hadn't expected it to run so quickly. Then King Elias frowned as he seemed to recall something. "Wait, Bionics, did you say your blood was gold in colour?"

"Yes, Sire, due to it being almost pure Source." Elias' eyes widened with shock. "Here on Mobius we in the royal line of Acorns maintained a close link to a concentrated deposit of the Source of All in the form of a pool of golden liquid."

Bionics' jaw dropped, he couldn't help himself. This information was a revelation to him. "A pool of... concentrated Source? By the Diamond Alpha! Oh my... good gods, this is incredible!" Everyone in the room stared at him as he became frantic and he clutched his head in thought. "That means that... this planet... oh, my head! This is utterly amazing. I can't believe that all this time... this was it!"

"What are you talking about Bionics?" Lien-Da asked with exasperation. Bionics turned to her, his eyes wide and smiling, and he said excitedly "this planet, Lien-Da. Mobius, it's the Favoured World!" She still seemed puzzled, as did the Council. Bionics calmed himself down and explained himself. "Look, one of the things I first learnt as a god is that the Great Creator fashioned, somewhere in the Multiverse, a planet which he would favour above all others.

It would not necessarily be a perfect world, it would not be the first or last world, but it would be the one that he would choose as the most important of them all, the Favoured World of the Great Creator. He never, ever told a single god in all of time which world it was, as though he wanted one of us to find it ourselves. This one world allegedly has, hidden on its surface, a deposit of the Source of All in concentrated liquid form. It would help govern the ruling body it deemed most worthy; your royal line, Sire. No other planet in the entire Multiverse, out of the countless quintillions that are out there, has the Source of All on that level of concentration. It is only Mobius.

This planet, Mobius or Earth or whatever you wish to call it, _is_ the Creator's Favoured World, the one which he believes will be of the greatest importance in times past, times current and times to come. I suspect that many other things on this planet are quite unique, like the seven Chaos Emeralds that were created by the god Feist from the thousands of this universe. That he only allows access to them to come from this world is testimony to the theory. Also the fact that I myself can tell you all this information without the Creator changing history or trying to stop me means that he wanted me to find this out and that this world is special, it stands out from the others.

I... I honestly cannot believe that after all this time, it was my own home world. All this time..." Bionics finished his story to soul bending silence and amazed faces. King Elias finally straightened up and said "This information is quite a revelation, and to know that this planet is the favoured of the Multiverse's creator and governor is quite astounding. Your arrival on Mobius has and will continue to cause quite a stir and reveal a much larger scale of things. The fact is, by and large, I personally feel quite disturbed by it."

Bionics completely understood. Who wouldn't feel disturbed if they found out that not only is the universe around them much bigger than they ever imagined, but also they were entwined in a divine plan of some kind, could drive lesser men mad. He knew all this would take time to set in, but now he had encountered this information there was only one thing on his mind. He looked King Elias squarely in the eye and said "I must go and see the Source of All deposit, now."

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Author's notes: Well, as promised, this chapter arrives a day after the lost chapter. Now that I have explained why gods like Bionics have their golden blood, I should point out that it was only _after_ typing I discovered the Greek gods of mythology also have golden blood. The Theory of the Favoured World is my own, if it emulates anyone else's work, it is not intentional. The same applies to my theory for the Multiverse. The design elements for New Mobotropolis and Castle Acorn are based on what I have observed from the comics, so some differences may be present. Not much else to say that I can think of, so I'll leave it at that. Next time, Bionics will be doing wonders for the Republic and the entire Archieverse continuity as he will be 'Returning to the Source'.


	16. Chapter 14: Returning to the Source

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of either Sega and/or Archie comics. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course. (I really should just copy one disclaimer and paste it instead of writing out all these individual ones, shouldn't I?)

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**Chapter 14: Returning to the Source**

The Council of Acorn now looked very concerned. The blue hedgehog with the bushy gray eyebrows and moustache said "To be honest, it's not really possible to reach the Source of All anymore." Bionics turned to face him with a puzzled expression. "And you are whom?"

"Sir Charles Hedgehog" the hedgehog replied, before continuing "It is regrettable that the ex-location of the Source was under the radiation blanketed ruins of Robotropolis, which suffered terrible nuclear bombardment only a year or so ago. Most of the Source was vaporised by the explosions and the fallout. In short it is of no use to you anymore. I'm very sorry, Bionics."

Bionics felt... cold. The Source of All deposit had been _destroyed?_ How, when? How could the gift of the Favoured World be so easily eradicated? Suddenly his mind was racing. Suddenly it did not matter to him who had done it. All that mattered was getting it back. He looked at the Council of Acorn one after the other, then at Lien-Da, and then back at the Council again. He made his decision then and there. "Well then, we're going to need a new deposit."

Elias frowned and turned his head slightly to the left, still maintaining eye contact with the god. "A new deposit, and how do you propose we go about doing that?" Bionics closed his eyes, lowered his chin to his chest and smiled almost smugly. "Is it not obvious? You are talking to a god whose blood is practically pure Source. I will have to donate some of it and then the Great Creator can expand it, and Mobius has its Source of All deposit once more."

The Council seemed to be getting more apprehensive by the minute. The porcupine on the lowermost left of Bionics asked "but where do you intend to place this deposit? Surely not back under Robotropolis."

Bionics looked at his addressor and chuckled "of course not. I will put it here, under New Mobotropolis, where it will be safest. Between NICOLE with her nanites and me with my abilities and equipment, I reckon we could have a new Source chamber built in an hour and a half..."

He hadn't been joking about that estimate, nor was it hopefully optimistic in terms of overstatement. Bionics had left the Council with their uneasy consent, had called for NICOLE and explained the plan. Oddly enough the A.I. wasn't too shocked by this, and soon they were well at the task. With NICOLE's help, Bionics got a blueprint and overview of the previous Source chamber and its location beneath the first Castle Acorn in what was once Mobotropolis. With the blueprints, NICOLE's nanites and Bionics' direction a new and identical Source chamber was created in roughly 1 ½ hours.

They had had to use the nanites to actually dig into the ground beneath the city to give the chamber its old secret nature. The new chamber, like the old, was designed so that it would be only accessible by members of the royal bloodline. Bionics however programmed in a system which allowed him and other gods to bypass this security setting just in case. The way to the chamber had its surface entrance hidden at a specific point within Castle Acorn which only the royal family would know about. For this undertaking Bionics had called in Princess Sally to aid when he needed her. Lien-Da had elected to stay behind and take in some of the city while he did his thing.

After showing her the secret entrance and leading her down the corridors which led to the Source chamber Sally said "is this really all necessary, Bionics? I mean we're not a proper monarchy anymore, we are a constitutional monarchy and a republic, so this sort of thing doesn't matter as much anymore." Bionics shook his head and did not break step. "On the contrary, your Highness, it still matters just as much. Despite being a republic, like you said, it is a constitutional monarchy.

The royal line is still recognised and despite having to share your power with an elected council the royal family still govern and rule over the Republic of Acorn. Everywhere you look, in your nation's titles and castle and council, the name of Acorn is recognised as the rightful sovereign leaders of your people, and that will never change, your Highness."

"Alright, and please just call me Sally. There's no need for the formalities at the moment."

With that they continued without a word all the way down into the Source chamber. When they got there it was like being hit by a wave of nostalgia. It was in every way an exact replica of the old chamber. Bionics and NICOLE had rebuilt down to most infinitesimal detail. True it looked clean and polished and bore not a scratch or scuff, but aside from that it was utterly identical. Sally actually walked all around the room examining it as though she remembered parts of it from the old Source chamber.

"This is... It just feels so unreal. It feels like I'm back in Mobotropolis again, it's so weird." Bionics smiled and said "it will have that effect, everything I have a hand in does that, but of course this is more NICOLE's work than mine. She deserves the credit." NICOLE closed her eyes and smiled, humbled, as she said "you are too kind Bionics. It was you who set this all in motion." Bionics raised his arms and replied "If you say so, NICOLE."

Sally finished looking around the chamber and walked up to Bionics. She said "well now we have the chamber, all we need is the Source itself."

"Ah, easily arranged" Bionics walked forward to the steps leading into the basin which would hold the Source. He turned around to face the two women, organic and artificial and said "just to let you know, this particular ritual will be a tiny bit off-putting, so you may want to look away." Sally put her hands on her hips and said, smiling "I'm sure it's not too bad."

"Okay then, but do not say I didn't warn you." Bionics turned back to the basin and raised his hands to his shoulders, elbows bent down. He snapped his fingers in perfect unison and in an instant his power armour, cloak and weapons all vanished. Behind him he could sense that Sally and NICOLE's expression did show surprise for a second. He stood at the top of the steps with not a shred of clothing on his person.

Nothing explicit could be seen though, thanks to what Bionics affectionately referred to as the Mobian species' 'natural modesty patches'. It was an evolutionary trait found in Mobians whereby the genitalia and more explicit erogenous zones were tucked deep into the body and concealed by thick patches of fur. It was much more commonly visible in males, as they were more often seen wearing only shoes, socks and gloves with no underwear. It was worth noting that while females also had the trait most for some reason did not feel as comfortable without body-covering clothes and so wore them anyway, with some exceptions like Sally.

So Bionics now stood nude with his erogenous zones concealed from the two women and then he walked into the centre of the basin. He briefly looked down at himself, seeing the bushier tuft of fur on his chest which some Hedgehogs had. Also he gazed over his mechanical arm which went all the way up to his shoulder, as well as his thickset muscles which made his arm and legs at least twice as broad as most Mobians' slender limbs. He looked back up again and raised his robotic arm out to his side.

A simple, sharp ritual knife appeared there and he raised both his hands to his sides. He turned his head to the ceiling, closed his eyes. When he spoke next, it was in a language the two women had never heard before. Somehow, though, they understood it perfectly, as though it became English once it hit their minds. "_Most wise and powerful Great Creator, I make this small sacrifice to bring about life anew for that which you decided worthy of the Favoured World. My blood will be this world's blood, and revived it will once more decide the fate of kings and queens. Grant me, oh Great Creator, your favour and power to renew this Source of All once again."_ He raised his left palm in front of his face and gently placed the knife's sharp edge onto it.

He exhaled fully, slowly, and then sliced the blade across his palm. He breathed in sharply and closed his eyes with the stinging pain. The movement of cutting his palm had been so flamboyant as to now have the blade pointing to the floor. Bionics opened his eyes and stared at his hand, and the golden blood seeping from the wound. He slowly clenched his left hand into a fist, and his blood began to run between his fingers. Droplets of the golden ichor dripped into the giant basin's floor.

Bionics caused the ritual knife to disappear and ran his right hand across his left. When he pulled his right hand away, the deep wound in his left palm was healed over and the blood had vanished. He slowly turned around and walked out of the basin to face Sally and NICOLE, who both looked quite stunned by the ceremony that had played out. He looked at them and said "I did say it would be off-putting, I also said not to say I didn't warn you. I sacrificed some of my lifeblood to form the new Source, and you can see that even now it is working."

Bionics turned to indicate the basin, and indeed those few droplets of his blood had replicated themselves and had now formed a large puddle in the bottom of the otherwise empty pool. Bionics' clothes returned to his body as Sally and NICOLE stepped forward to watch as the event take place. As they continued to watch, the puddle of liquid Source began to grow and spread more and more quickly. In 10 seconds it had filled up the entire bottom of the basin. In 20 seconds it was halfway full. In 30 seconds flat, the entire basin was filled with a new liquid deposit of the Source of All.

For a moment the Source pulsed golden, once, twice, three times, four times. Then the pulsing light stopped and the liquid just settled there. Sally said "It seems a bit different from the original Source."

"That is because it has had its universal coding erased. If you think of it like a memory unit on a machine it is supposed to store certain data on it. My blood was programmed to work as one with me and work on all things mechanical. The pulsing light was when that original data was erased to make way for a new set of instructions. At the moment the Source is only semi-sentient."

"So how do we get this new set of instructions?" NICOLE asked quizzically.

"It is simple really" Bionics said turning to look at Sally. "It must link with a new bloodline and it will receive its instructions from the Creator forthwith. It must bond itself to your bloodline, Sally, and the only way to do that is for you to enter the pool." Sally did not seem shocked by this, but did look back at him with a strange expression. "I suppose, if I must." She stepped up to the pool, removed her jacket and boots and placed them down at her side on the polished floor.

She slowly walked into the middle of the pool, and the liquid made its way up to her shoulders. She turned back around to face Bionics and NICOLE, and as she did so the Source began to pulse again. It did so four times, just as last time, and then the liquid began to spin clockwise inside the basin. Bionics smiled with success and he said "It is complete and the Source of All has made its bond with the House of Acorn. It is finished." Sally slowly walked out of the pool again. Some of the liquid clung to her fur and soaked her as she walked out.

Bionics raised his hand and the surplus liquid fell from her and drained itself back into the pool. Sally seemed impressed by this as she put her clothes back on. She went over to Bionics, then turned her head to look at the Source of All and said "I never thought I would see the Source of All again." She turned back to Bionics and continued "you've done yet another great service in doing this for us." Bionics closed his eyes, smiled and said "it was the least I could do for you. Mobius is the Favoured World, and it needs to have its Source of All deposit returned to it."

Sally smiled back at him as he opened his eyes, and then they all turned to leave. Before they could actually do so Bionics suddenly stopped as he sensed something. "Bionics, what is it?" Sally stopped and looked back at the machine god, as did NICOLE. Bionics kept staring at nothing as he felt a strange disturbance in the Source pool behind him. He turned to see it pulse once every 5 seconds. He spoke slowly, saying "the Source is... calling out to me. It wants me to go into it."

Bionics walked up to the pool again, made his clothes disappear once more and entered the golden liquid. Being 4 foot high the Source only went up to the bottom of his ribcage. He stood there for a few seconds, and then without warning the Source burst up out of the basin and engulfed him in a liquid cocoon. He could just here both Sally and NICOLE cry out his name in shock, but that was it as far as outside noises went. The sound of the Source liquid crashing and flowing around him was able to blot out all other noises.

Then that sound died away as well. Bionics was surrounded by utter silence, even though noise should still have been present. Out of nowhere a voice whispered to him, and it came from all around him. The Source of All was talking to him personally. _"You are an anomaly here, _Machina Deus_. Things are not running as they should. You do not belong on this world."_

"What do you mean, Source?" Bionics asked demandingly.

"_You were never meant to have a place in this timeline, in these events, you do not belong. Time is running rampant and different to true course... and it is by your doing that this occurs!"_

Bionics was confused, what was the Source saying?"I ask you again. What is it you mean?" The Source whispered tone suddenly became all consuming and, while still a whisper, filled Bionics' senses. _"You broke the Great Creator's laws all those years ago. You aided the Sonic of Moebius when you knew not to do so. In becoming a part of the timeline without the Creator's safeguards, you fractured time itself and now this tear in time has reached its critical point."_ Bionics eyes widened as at last he saw the truth, the terrible, monstrous truth.

This war, the fact that Scourge had been so successful, the reason why their were so many more Moebians than was technically possible, the reason why Diabolus was trying to claw his way into existence here and everything else of the past three or so months on this world. All of it was his doing, his fault, all because he had gotten involved in the timeline. Time had broken and cracked like glass because of him. Now Bionics knew why the Great Creator had really sent him here. He had broken the timeline, he had to witness the consequences and he had to repair the damage. The sound of the same phrase in his head, with his voice, played over and over; "_mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!_"

This sudden and awful epiphany was so much to cope with that Bionics shouted long and loud in fear to face it. All of this, it was never meant to happen, it was his fault, all his fault, he... But then there was the question of Lien-Da, and her connection to him. The thought of her brought Bionics back from the brink of his breakdown, and calmed his soul. Even though time had been partially broken, it still ran its own new course. Destiny had changed so that now they could form a bond together. In this way he was almost, no, he _was_ glad that this time fracture had occurred.

"_You are the cause of these most recent events, _Machina Deus_, but that does not mean that it is a bad thing or that you must set it all right. You know that there is a choice to be made, just like in all things. You will choose whether you will follow your heart or follow your mind. Be vigilant, _Machina Deus_, and guard against both your old ward and our ancient foe. Soon the darkness of the Ultimate Evil will blanket this world, and only he who will achieve the Creator's ultimate favour will have the power and clarity to defeat Diabolus. Let the wisdom of the Great Creator guide you, _Machina Deus_!"_

The swirling Source fell with a great _clap! _And Bionics fell into it face down. He lay in the pool unmoving as Sally and NICOLE splashed in, throwing caution to the wind, to reach him. They both pulled him up by the arms and guided him out onto the polished floor beyond the pool. Bionics lay on his back, breathing heavily where he had been unable to breathe face down in the Source. NICOLE grabbed him by the shoulders and said fearfully "are you alright, Bionics?" Bionics took in one last deep breath and replied slowly.

"Yes, I am alright. The Source granted me a terrible revelation. I must retrieve Lien-Da and return to my Spire at once." He stood up quickly, removed the excess liquid soaking all their bodies, made his clothes reappear and strided rapidly out of the Source chamber with his cloak billowing imperiously behind him. Both Sally and NICOLE looked at each other for a moment, and then chased after him, leaving the Source deposit to whirl and flow quietly in its new home.

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Author's notes: An interesting fact; this is the first chapter which hasn't had a character or context break. It's all just one long chapter. Anyway, onto more serious things. The way in which the Source of All behaves is done on assumption and includes some of my own unique ideas to add to the accepted canon. If any of it deviates too far from said canon to be accepted, then you will have to forgive me. The theory of 'natural modesty patches' is, I am aware, not fully original. Please bear in mind I had the idea to explain why Sonic and some characters have no covering clothes _before_ I read other fanfictions with similar concerns. If my theory emulates someone else work in any way, then it is not intentional. (It is irritating though... I mean, you think you've got a stunning idea, and before you can show it to the world, someone else beats you to it!) Well, that's that bit out of the way. When Bionics gave his Pre-sacrificial speech, it was supposed to be in Latin. Unfortunately, when I put the text into a translator and then pulled it back to English to check, it came up with some nonsense about an 'Intensely Planter' as opposed to a 'Great Creator', so I had to scrap that idea and use the current one. If you don't know, _Mea culpa _and _mea maxima culpa_ translate to 'my fault' and 'my most grievous fault' respectively. This chapter reveals a serious little plot twist, and it helps to explain the deviation from the comics no end. Bionics' meddling will lead to consequences. The next chapter sees Bionics try to once and for all rid Lien-Da of her evil side and he will be 'Healing the Scars'.


	17. Chapter 15: Healing the Scars

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of either Sega and/or Archie comics. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. The memory witnessed by Lien-Da in this chapter (you'll know it when you see it) is borrowed from the comic series, so copyright most definitely goes to them. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course.

Pre-story notes: Heartfelt thanks go to all the reviews sent, but on this occasion my deepest thanks go to Kell0Bell0 for her review of the last chapter. In response, I'll say now that Bionics and Lien-Da don't get quite the 'alone time' you might have been thinking of. Still, I hope you all enjoy.

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**Chapter 15: Healing the Scars**

Bionics had made his way back through the corridors of Castle Acorn saying to the princess and the A.I. that he couldn't explain to them his revelation yet, and that they should present a full account of events to the Acorn Council. He then made his way out into New Mobotropolis to find Lien-Da sitting on a bench in a public park. She was staring at a group of children playing with each other around a lake in front of her when she turned to see Bionics standing there.

"Hi, Bionics, I was just taking in a few of the sights of the city." Bionics nodded with a serious expression and then said "we need to go back to the Spire now. I have just received a revelation from the Source of All right after we had finished making it."

"You had a revelation, a revelation about what?" Bionics took Lien-Da gently by the hand and helped to pull her up off the bench. He replied "I can't explain it here and now, I will tell you once we are back at the Spire."

With that, he translocated them both instantly to the roof of his Battle Spire. Upon arriving he swept up to his throne and sat down in it with a look of deep thought. Lien-Da came up in front of him and said "so now will you tell me about your 'revelation'?" Bionics looked back at her and answered "yes. I found out that the events that have occurred for roughly the past three months, shortly before this war started, were not supposed to happen the way they did. I found out that time has fractured around this dimension and Moebius, with this dimension receiving the brunt of it now."

Lien-Da seemed to be just as shocked as she was confused. It was as if she was stunned by the information but at the same time didn't entirely know what it meant.

She asked him "well, how did this fracture in time occur?" Bionics looked straight into her eyes and said, solemnly, "I caused it, Lien-Da. When I got involved in the timeline with Scourge those ten years ago, I did so without the Creator's permission or the temporal safeguards which allow me to get involved without time being broken. So without those safeguards time was broken and only recently have the effects begun to show."

"What do you mean, what are you saying?" Lien-Da seemed really quite worried by what he was telling her. Bionics continued, with a degree of finality, "The events of this war should never have happened. Scourge should never have brought an army with him here. There shouldn't be this many Moebians without counterparts in this dimension. Scourge should never have been able to even last three months of war here, let alone make any progress in it. Finally, of course, you and I never met before this, as I would have had no reason to come here."

Lien-Da was now her undisguised shock. She actually put her hand to her mouth and gasped quietly. "B... Bionics, you and I were never supposed to meet? But what about our connection, our bond, and the Soultouch for Aurora's sake. Surely that means something."

"Yes they do, but only because of the fractured timeline. Time doesn't work in a simple manner, especially when damaged. New destinies are created and old ones destroyed. Events play out differently, sometimes never to be reversed. You and I have this bond now, but in the undamaged timeline we don't have this bond. You and I were never meant to meet or be affected by one another's influences."

They stood there in silent contemplation of this for what felt like an eternity. It was a lot to accept in just one go. Finally Lien-Da decided to speak up and said "I... I find it hard to think of what it would be like without you here. It just seems like this is right."

"I know what you mean, even as a god I can't tell you what the timeline would be like otherwise. I would need to be a god of time for that."

Lien-Da just looked at him and then said "Bionics, I don't know why, but for some reason I feel angry about this." Bionics looked back at her, his expression becoming one of puzzlement and shock. "Angry? Why are you angry about this, Lien-Da?"

"I... to be honest I don't know. For some reason I feel livid about this, and about you. I think perhaps the idea that none of this could have happened if you hadn't done what you did makes some part of me furious. I don't want to be angry at you, but something inside of me is making me feel that way about you."

Bionics stared at her with his expression unchanged. He wondered inside what was causing this inside of Lien-Da. She and he were making so much headway. They were becoming closer and closer, and then this part of her as making her angry at him in the hopes to drive them back apart. He knew that this part of her was the part that had dominated her when they had first met, but now it was trying to fight back and reclaim her.

Bionics made his choice. He would try and cleanse away that evil inside of her here and now. He walked up to her and said to her "This part of you that makes you angry at me, do you want it there?" Lien-Da looked at him with a surprised expression, and replied "no, of course I don't, not anymore."

"Good, then I can help you" Bionics reached out with his two fore and middle fingers to her temples and placed them there gently. Her expression remained one of surprise as he did this. "What are you doing Bionics?"

Bionics closed his eyes in concentration as he answered "there is still so much pain hidden in your mind, so much anger, so much hatred, so much raw hunger for power and leadership. These are the emotions of the Ultimate Evil. These emotions have taken root inside your mind, whispered to you, led you astray and scarred you for so many years. You have killed. You have killed so many, close to you or not, for so many reasons, it has torn your soul and stifled your conscience for so long. I can, however, sense also that all which is good in you is still there.

It has lived on, hiding, waiting, desperate to help you and heal you and return you to the light. Over these past four days that good has begun to spread throughout you, repair your soul and made you a better person for it, but it still has much to help you with. I want to help that part of you as well. I can heal the scars of your mind and soul, but you must help me to help you. Without your help, I will certainly fail, I will be lost inside your mind forever, and you will never know any good in your soul ever again. I can heal the scars, will you let me?"

* * *

Lien-Da considered what Bionics was saying. She felt the dark feelings inside her ripple and flare, as though trying to coax her into rejecting his help, rejecting him. She couldn't just discard him though. She was close to him now. She knew that listening to the good in her had benefitted her more than she could ever have imagined. Her conscience felt clearer, her mind less brooding, she felt better for being a good person, and this was how she wanted to stay.

Lien-Da made her choice. "...Yes, I will let you." Bionics opened his eyes to stare into hers, his wonderful smile crossing his lips, and he whispered "thank you." He closed his eyes again and then there was a weird sensation surrounding her. She saw the world around them fly apart like feathers and blackness engulfed them both. They were falling into nothing, but they were still in a standing position together. Then suddenly they stopped and Lien-Da felt solid ground beneath her feet. They were in a large atrium with doors all around the centre. The doors were set in a circle and all of them were closed.

There was no light, but still everything could be seen as though it were lit up. Bionics removed his fingers from her head and began to very slowly look around. Lien-Da felt a tingle of dread run up her spine due to the effect of this strange place. "Where are we, Bionics?"

"We are inside your mind, Lien-Da, all these doors represent emotions and memories that you keep. This level is for conscious thoughts and feelings. If you go down a level by thinking about it and you can see unconscious thoughts and feelings."

She felt her legs go wobbly quite uncharacteristically. They were _inside her mind_! It was just such a strange thing to be told or to believe. She decided to confirm it by going up to a door around the pitch black atrium and opening it tentatively. She stared in at a memory played out in front of her like some kind of theatre. The events of the memory were three-dimensional and she could walk around it without disturbing the people involved. The memory was of her in the Twilight Cage as a teenager, she stood in a set of quarters with her late brother Kragok.

They were discussing how they intended to take power over the Dark Legion after all this time. Kragok wanted to be sure that she was committed to the cause enough to kill their father. The version of her in the memory simply smiled malevolently and said that she had already done this to their stepmother before. Kragok said that this was different, as Luger was their father by blood. Lien-Da's younger self still didn't care. She stated that Moritori Rex was much more of a father to them than Luger.

On that note she and her brother shook hand and mechanical claw in agreement to become the Legion's first joint Grandmasters. The modern Lien-Da shook her head sadly as she watched the scene fade away. _What was I getting myself into? I thought it would be better for the Legion to bask in the fires of war._ She jumped almost out of her skin as Bionics said "Lien-Da?" from behind her. She spun to face him with frustration in her face, but Bionics did not react to her. Instead he beckoned for her to follow him back out into the atrium.

When they entered back there Lien-Da asked him "so what exactly are we going to do here?" Bionics remained looking around into the blackness as he replied "I need to find the source of your more negative side, bring it out, and then together we have to fight it." Lien-Da felt a sensation of shock and fear course through her. "We have to fight my dark side inside my own head?"

"Well, yes and no, it is mainly you who has to fight it. You are the one who has your own mind, you are the one with the darker side, and it is you that this dark side wants to take over."

Bionics turned to face her as he continued "you won't have to fight it physically necessarily, but you will have to resist its attempts to take you over or persuade you." Lien-Da felt all the more concerned by this. She knew what her darker side was capable of, as she had lived it for many years, and she didn't know if she could succeed in this battle. Bionics then raised his head, before spinning around with his energy nodachi raised and ignited. There, in front of both of them, was a second Lien-Da.

This one looked different though. It wore the leather bodysuit and kit, and it hair and dreadlocks were identical to normal Lien-Da as well, but this one's eyes were bloodshot and red around the edges. Tear stains marked its cheeks and its gloveless hands had claws on the end of the fingers. It grinned horribly at Bionics and Lien-Da, and when it did it revealed sharp, pointed fangs. It spoke with a pair of voices, one was Lien-Da's own, and the second was deeper and more demonic.

"It's good to see you, Lien-Da. I wondered what had become of you now you've decided to forsake power." Lien-Da herself clenched her fists and stood her ground. "I did not forsake power, I forsook evil and bloodlust. I have learned that without you or the darkness there is much more power to be had." The dark side of Lien-Da laughed almost maniacally at this statement.

"More power from light than from dark? You and I both know that what you say is a lie."

"No, I know the power to be had from compassion and good. You will not take me back."

"Hmph, well, we'll see about that." Dark Lien-Da raised her arms into the air and let out a long, blood-curdling screech. Lien-Da felt fear run down her spine and she saw Bionics look up and around into the infinite blackness. He fixed on something hurtling towards them both and shouted "look out!" He pushed her aside just as what he had spotted above them hit. Great tendrils of corrupt black substance crashed around Bionics like water, but then began to solidify and force him down.

Lien-Da tried to run at him to help him, but her dark side got in the way and held out a single clawed hand to stop her. "Why spoil the fun? See the true power of a so-called 'god'!" Dark Lien-Da held out her other hand to point at the tendrils. They wrapped around Bionics' arms and legs so to prevent him from breaking free, and then more of them formed solid lumps and began to pummel his face like fists. Lien-Da tried to get past her dark self, but to no avail. "No, Bionics!" She turned to stare in anger and fear at her dark side.

"Damn you! Why are you doing this to him?" Dark Lien-Da laughed again and smirked at Lien-Da normal. "I'm showing you what this 'god' is really capable of in terms of power. He is weak, too weak to even resist me, too weak to really have any chance against me in this place. He has made you weak as well Lien-Da. Look at yourself! You think the compassion that Bionics preaches will save him now? Nothing will save him now. You have become complacent and weak thanks to him. You are no closer to the power you know you deserve."

Lien-Da turned to stare at Bionics in his helplessness. Her darker self was actually making sense, Bionics had not the power to escape the darkness here, and so what good was he? She didn't know, of course, that her fear had allowed her dark side to begin to influence her thoughts to see its point of view. Dark Lien-Da continued to persuade her physical doppelganger like some shoulder devil. "You could aspire to be so much more. You can take all of the power that this god has for your own. You could strike him down, and then you will command his armies, his fleets of vehicles and aircraft. The world would bow to you, and they would fear your name, Lien-Da!"

Bionics grunted as he struggled against his oozing black bonds. "Do not listen to your dark side, Lien-Da, you have such power now. I rebuilt the Dark Legion for you, I gave you shelter and comfort and support. You have power now; do not fall to the dark again!"

"Do not try to force your own ideas on us, Bionics." Dark Lien-Da turned one of the tendrils into a sharp blade and ran it through the god of machines' stomach. He howled in agony, and the howl was pixellated like it was coming from a machine. Lien-Da felt oddly calm as she watched this happen. She didn't rush to his help, but neither did she take pleasure in his suffering. Dark Lien-Da twisted the blade slowly in Bionics' stomach, increasing his pain even more. "You cannot pretend to know what is best for us. You hold us back from our true desires.

Because of you we are forced to serve the lesser Republic of Acorn when Echidnas should stand over all. Because of you Dimitri is even more powerful and we have less chance of taking what is ours by right. You have weakened us, not strengthened us, Bionics." Bionics gritted his teeth and hissed "do not attempt to convince me that you and Lien-Da are one and the same... Diabolus! Did you really think I wouldn't know that by your persuasion this is happening?"

"I am not Diabolus truly, Bionics, I am just his influence in what gives Lien-Da her true strength." Lien-Da proper felt confused as this exchange continued. She was just beginning to see things the dark way again, but now she felt a certain slackening of those emotions. Bionics, by pointing out the truth, was creating a mental loophole in her mind for his presence. Dark Lien-Da twisted the bladed tendril around in Bionics' gut more, tearing his innards apart slowly. He screamed and his good eye released tears of pain. Dark Lien-Da turned to Lien-Da proper as a black serrated scimitar appeared in her hand and said "now hurt him as well. He's the one who has weakened your resolve, have your revenge."

Lien-Da, still under the dark one's influence, felt that this was right. How could she have allowed herself to be so blinded by Bionics? Yes, he was holding her back, now he would pay for bringing out such weakness in her. She took the scimitar by the handle, walked up to Bionics and plunged it through his organic arm. He gritted his teeth and forced a shriek of pain between his locked jaws. Past fresh tears of anguish he cried out to her "Lien-Da, please fight Diabolus' influence, for the Creator's sake fight it! This is agonising!" As if to make a point, Dark Lien-Da pulled the tendril blade from his stomach, spraying golden blood everywhere, and plunged it into his right lung.

He let out another pixellated scream of pure torture and cried harder with the pain. Despite this he regained himself and, past coughing fits of his blood, shouted "fight the influence! You have such strength, your light side can save you, just have faith! You know that deep inside you that you care! You have the Soultouch!"

"You think that the Soultouch matters? Hah! It isn't always right, you know. Being a god you have clouded the sixth sense so you could manipulate her like you have so far. Lien-Da should never have cared about you. She should only think of herself, that is where her true strength lies. Compassion is weakness, ruthlessness is strength. She cares about and loves no-one and nothing. Why, what do you think she could possibly love?"

"Me."

Bionics said the single word quietly, but it carried all around the atrium, he said it softly, but with grim determination. That single word reached Lien-Da's ears, travelled to her heart and pulled the right lever. Her expression softened and she woke up from her darker self's sway. Seeing that she still held the handle of the demonic scimitar rammed into Bionics' arm, she gasped and removed it as gently as possible. Her darker self displayed a face darkened by uncontrollable wrath. She screamed "YOOOUUU!" and lunged at the bound god.

Lien-Da normal, finally returned to her senses, sprinted in front of her darker self and blocked her path. Dark Lien-Da did not stop, so Lien-Da ducked down and rammed the scimitar into her evil doppelganger's abdomen. Dark Lien-Da flew backwards by a yard. She got up again, coughed and staggered back further, clutching the scimitar's protruding hilt. Lien-Da went up to Bionics and managed to tear some of the oozing black tendrils from his arms. Bionics broke the rest by himself and his own strength. He brought up his nodachi and sliced the tendrils at his legs away. Dark Lien-Da cried out in pain as the tendrils were a part of her.

Lien-Da turned to face her evil double and said "I can feel you now, trying to pry inside my head. I realise now that the evil I felt was not really my own mind, I just allowed myself to believe that. You enslave us to your will, the will of evil, and I know that I want to be able to think for myself. Do you want to know what I think? Bionics, I think you should end this." Bionics smiled, nodded and leapt straight at Diabolus' incarnation of Lien-Da's evil self. He ran the nodachi through its heart. Dark Lien-Da screamed out in one constant, ear-splitting noise and then exploded violently, throwing Bionics back.

Lien-Da covered her face with the force of the blast, and when it was over she ran up to Bionics, who was lying half stunned upon the floor. She stared at the heavily bleeding wounds in his lung, arm and stomach and she stared into his eyes, pained but triumphant. She stared at the arm wound she herself had inflicted and whispered "Oh, Bionics, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me, I-" He held up his mechanical hand to stop her from talking and whispered shakily "Do not worry, you were under Diabolus' influence, and you were not in your right mind. This is your mind, your world, it is up to you to heal me if you so desire." She nodded, concentrated on the wounds, imagined them being healed, and then they actually were healed. Bionics breathed in and then out heavily. He stood up, then holstered his nodachi behind his cloak and repaired said cloak and armour of the stab damage acquired therein.

He turned to Lien-Da, smiled his special smile and said kindly "Thank you, Lien-Da. Without you I would have been destroyed, and you lost to the darkness again." Lien-Da felt a wave of happiness and contentment wash over her soul. She went up to Bionics, clasped his hands in her own and lightly kissed him on the cheek. She smiled as she looked at him and saw him blushing slightly. "Thank you, Bionics, for cleansing my mind of that evil... thing. I feel so much better without it clawing at my thoughts. I thought that the Soultouch would have protected me from that. Obviously it needs more than just that to keep me safe from the darkness."

Bionics nodded slowly and then he carefully placed his index and middle fingers to her temples once again. She closed her eyes, felt the strange sensation of rising up out of the blackness, and when she opened her eyes again they were standing on top of Bionics' Battle Spire again. She felt the cool breeze on her face and inhaled deeply as she took in the light of the early afternoon. It was good to be out of that infinite darkness. Bionics got her attention and said with a serious look and tone. "It is mostly over, but it may return if enough emotional stress overcomes you. Also, you will not lose certain aspects of your personality such as your determination or, forgive me for saying it, your stubbornness or your battle rage."

Lien-Da felt a tiny twinge of concern at this, but let it pass. She merely nodded and said "I understand, Bionics, thank you again for that." Bionics gave only a small smile and he sat down on his throne. He appeared to have been physically weakened by that little purging. Lien-Da had to sit down on the steps herself. She rubbed her eyes to try and combat the fatigue. Then her mind passed over what Bionics had said in her mind to snap her out of the trance. She turned her head and looked at him with inquisitiveness and a hint of guilt.

"How did you know that saying I loved about you would break me free of my dark side's grip?" Bionics looked at her now with a slightly saddened expression that Lien-Da could not understand. "I said it because I hoped it was the one thing in your heart that Diabolus' dark creation could not block out or destroy. I said it because it was the only thing I knew that could save you from falling into darkness again. But also I said it because... because you do love me, or at least I hope you do to some degree."

Lien-Da felt odd because of this statement. She did care about Bionics, it was no good trying to see it otherwise anymore, but to have the person you care about admit that they know you care about them, or even love them, without you having ever told them is something of a buzzkill. She smiled guiltily and replied "okay, yes, I do care about you Bionics. I care about you in the same way you care about all of us, and me, in fact especially me. You must be tired of me saying this but everything you have done for us is beyond anything I could have dreamed of. I want to somehow return the favour."

* * *

Bionics grinned audaciously and said "Don't worry, you will in time." He froze imperceptibly for a moment as he considered something about his speech patterns. It wasn't as apparent in that sentence as some others, but he had noticed over time he had begun to be a lot more informal in the way he spoke. He would say 'don't' as opposed to 'do not' these days. He was becoming familiar with his surroundings on his once home planet, perhaps too familiar. He brought himself back to the real world and Lien-Da nodding at his previous sentence in agreement.

Then, by an amazing feat of dramatic timing, NICOLE decided to show herself to the pair of them. She smirked slightly and said "It seems I can never catch you two separated, can I?"

"Apparently not" Bionics remained sitting on his throne, but sat up straight before he continued. "What news do you bring, NICOLE?" The A.I.'s smirk did not fade as she answered "interesting news. Your forces reached their designated battlegrounds all over Mobius and helped win some quite key victories. Our forces in the Republic, the Kingdom of Mercia and Downunda have been relieved and invigorated to continue the war.

That's not the strangest bit though. Scourge's forces planet-wide have abandoned the expansion front and have dug in everywhere, apart from small parts of his armies returning from all other areas to reinforce his troops here. I have no doubt that this is gearing up to fight you. Apart from that no more of Scourge's forces are moving." Now her smile did fade as she said "I am afraid to say that we were too late to do anything about this continent's east coast, where the Overlanders live. Scourge had swept across that region quite soon before you had arrived and now the Overlanders are few in number, lacking in land and have even more of a hatred for Mobiankind."

Bionics felt a little twinge of regret, but only a little. The Overlanders were a sub-species of humanity and held a passionate xenophobia towards Mobians, they had been the Mobians' enemies in the Great War, and now their near destruction at Scourge's hands would not be held in high regard by them. He shook his head sadly and asked "okay, is there anything else?"

"Sadly yes, there is. Up in the northern area of this continent one of your small armies was defeated and wiped out by a secret sky fleet that Scourge has been preparing for most of his time here. This fleet is actually powerful enough if combined to do some serious damage not only to your soldiers and vehicles, but also this Spire."

This information really set Bionics off. One of his armies had been destroyed, which angered him. Scourge had a secret sky fleet with the capacity to effectively beat him, which worried him. He said grimly "no doubt Scourge and his armies found a morale boost in this small victory."

"Yes, they did, and now they fight with a new ferocity. We, the Acorn Council and Sally and myself, have made the decision to keep this defeat of yours from the general public in New Mobotropolis and the Republic. Who knows what will happen if they think Scourge has the power to better the gods."

"He doesn't" Bionics said with a lace of anger in his tone. He now knew that the time had arrived to bring in the big boy. "I think I can safely say that this war has now escalated to the point I can bring in reinforcements." Lien-Da and NICOLE seemed puzzled as the latter said "reinforcements, what reinforcements?"

"These reinforcements" Bionics replied as he closed his eyes and sent a telepathic command all the way back to the Diamond Alpha. _"Solaris, we need you above the Spire in Mobius' atmosphere now. Commence inter-dimensional jump at once."_

_

* * *

_

Author's notes: Hmmm, I wonder if I should have said that this chapter might be M rated for the graphic nature of the violence and torture... Oh well. I don't think its _too_ graphic, but then you'll just have to decide for yourself. I feel compelled to say that the inspiration for this chapter partly comes from the song 'Haunted' by Evanescence. Music has helped me to imagine several scenes for the entire story, and I will be giving a full list of these songs in the final chapter's notes. GCSE are pretty much over! Only three more to go as of this posting, so I have much more time to type (now if only I could motivate myself into doing it more often.) This is one of my first attempts at consciously writing about the political effects of the war (i.e. the Overlander massacre), and even then it's not that big a deal, but hey ho. Not much else to say today. Next chapter will be a quiet one, to say the least, as Bionics will be giving both Lien-Da and NICOLE a flash tour of 'The _Solaris_'.

Edit: Another slight mess up on my behalf. Kell0Bell0 is a 'her' as stated in her review of this chapter. I have made the modification, simply because I believe in fastidiousness. Thanks again, Kell0Bell0, for pointing the mistake out to me.


	18. Chapter 16: The Solaris

Author's Disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of either Sega and/or Archie comics. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. Solaris the _god_ is Sega's copyright. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course. This includes the new addition of Veho and the term Scyraea.

* * *

**Chapter 16: The **_**Solaris**_

Bionics opened his eyes as the telepathic reply came, saying _"yes, my Lord Bionics."_ He stood up from his throne and walked up beside Lien-Da and NICOLE while staring at the sky above. They both looked at him, and then decided to follow his gaze. They waited all of 10 seconds. Lien-Da then asked puzzled "Well, where are your reinforcements?"

"They are still incoming, just have a bit of patience." Bionics said calmly, and without turning away from the cloudless blue sky.

Then, as Lien-Da turned back to the sky, it happened. There was a great bright light high in the atmosphere, a muffled _boom_ like a thunderclap, and when the light cleared there was something there. From where they stood on the Spire, even though this thing was many miles above in space, they could all tell that the object was massive. It was hugely noticeable even from ground level which they were well above and had just enough mass to effectively blot out half of the sun. It was a massive, massive ship, a space faring ship of biblical size.

Bionics smiled to see his flagship once again. "The _Solaris_" he announced with a degree of grandeur. "My flagship for space and planetary engagements. She is a super-dreadnought, forty miles in length and eight miles in width. She has a compliment of twenty thousand additional Immortals, two thousand Seraphs, one thousand Guardians, and ten frigates for close-planet capital ship engagement. The _Solaris_ has enough firepower to destroy planets, quench stars and pretty much pound the living daylights out of anything that gets in her way."

Both Lien-Da and NICOLE just continued to gaze in awe at the massive spacecraft. This monstrosity even eclipsed the Battle Spire in terms of size and power. Bionics smiled smugly and said "perhaps you would both like to take a tour of her?" Both of the women sharply looked at him, their eyes widening even more. "It would take us weeks to tour the whole thing" said NICOLE with shock in her voice as well. Bionics chuckled and said "We will only see the bridge, the power source and one of the hangers. It will not take long, I assure you."

They both looked at the _Solaris_, then back at Bionics, and then they both nodded their heads in near perfect synchronisation. Bionics smirked knowingly and then he held out his hand to NICOLE, saying "I will need to allow you access to the ship, as otherwise you may not be able to get through." NICOLE nodded in understanding and she held out her own hand to Bionics'. His palm hovered over hers for a moment, and the necessary conditioning for her and her nanites to pass by his ship's defences was transferred to her successfully.

NICOLE lowered her hand, but Bionics kept his hand where it was. He slowly turned the palm upwards and, still smirking with an air of mystery to it, snapped his mechanical fingers. With a flash of bright cyan light they were all translocated straight upwards and into the belly of the leviathan that was the _Solaris_. They all appeared in a massive hanger bay that sat at the edge of the ship. In it was row upon row, column upon column, of Seraph fighter-bombers, stretching down the length of the entire space.

Bionics held out his hands and began to show Lien-Da and NICOLE around the hanger like a tour guide. "We have enough fighter-bombers to cover literally any major population centre on this planet. We have enough transports to move the population of New Mobotropolis in one trip without even needing to squeeze as many on each craft as possible or using all said craft. The additional Immortals act as the _Solaris_' marine compliment, and can drop into the atmosphere for tactical insertion to any location on Mobius in minutes excluding the time taken for the _Solaris_ to get into position."

NICOLE went up to one of the Seraphs and stroked the wing with her right hand. There was an odd moment where she closed her eyes as if in concentration. Her eyes opened in shock, gasped and pulled away from the softly humming aircraft. "It... I can feel its heartbeat! This machine, all these machines and even the _Solaris_, They're all alive!"

"Of course" Bionics said, folding his arms gently. "All machines are alive in a sense. All have a unique energy signature, which I suppose is like a machine's equivalent of a soul. You are sentient, NICOLE. You have a soul, and you are alive as a machine just like I am. All machines are alive, just not in the same way as organics. My machines are simply more released from total subservience and are more... obviously alive."

Lien-Da looked at him now with a strangely accusing look in her eyes. "Yes, I've been meaning to ask you about that. If you are the all encompassing machine god, as you put it the 'Alpha and Omega of machines', then shouldn't you be looking after all machines everywhere? Surely you can't leave the Diamond Alpha if you watch over all machine kind." Bionics turned to her and couldn't help but think that this was an odd time to bring this up. He replied "I am watching over all machines right now. I _am_ the Alpha and Omega of machines, and as such I am all-seeing and all-knowing when it comes to them. I am everywhere in the Multiverse right now, watching over machine kind wherever it may be.

I watch over every machine's creation, life and death, and when they die I guide their soul to Elysium to rest in eternal peace. Or alternatively they are resurrected to serve me and become the minds and souls of my soldiers, vehicles and aircraft. Every machine you see here was once a machine in the Multiverse which died and I took in to serve their god. I don't do this on a conscious level, it is all unconscious thought. If it wasn't we gods would go mad with all the information in our conscious beings. I am also a part of the soul in all machines, so a part of my unconscious self lives within you as well, NICOLE." The A.I. put her hand silently to her mouth, and Lien-Da's eyes widened slowly as he finished his explanatory speech.

The latter of the pair then slowly nodded to show that she understood perfectly now. Bionics nodded back without as much as a glimmer of a smile. He then beckoned for the pair to get close to him and he translocated them to their next destination; the ship's power core. They arrived to the sound of quiet humming and a lot of light. The power core was a room surrounded by lines of light like those of a circuit, so it was similar to Bionics' planning room on the Spire. The lines however kept flashing in seven different colours and it was as if this light was flowing through the lines like lifeblood flows through arteries. The three of them were all standing in an observation area removed from the core and its lined walls behind a wall and strip of crystal window. This protection kept them separate from something glowing brightly and hovering in suspension in between a pair of power conduits.

He indicated for NICOLE and Lien-Da to follow him out into the core itself. Both looked uneasy and were hesitant for a second. Bionics raised his eyebrows almost accusingly at them and then they gave in and followed him out into the main core. They could get close to the glowing power source and the conduits via a series of metal grille walkways placed there to allow for maintenance teams to access the core more easily. He pointed straight at the power source and said to Lien-Da "look familiar?" He watched her walk a little closer to the power source and practically felt the realisation hit her.

Sitting between the power absorbing conduits was a Creator's Diamond the size of a tennis ball. It glowed brightly in the seven colours of Chaos Untainted and this glowing energy was being gently sucked from the infinite energy source in huge quantities by the hungry conduits. Lien-Da took a step back from the Creator's Diamond and Bionics smiled calculatingly as he said "yes, a Creator's Diamond powers the _Solaris_. Remember that a Diamond the size of a large pebble can change worlds, so you can tell that this ship has a large amount of power in its veins. All the weapons, the engines, the shields and its time and space travel systems are all fed from this one Creator's Diamond and so have absolute power in spades."

"Sorry, did you say this ship can travel through time?" NICOLE asked with a quizzical tone of voice and facial expression. Bionics' smile widened a little and he answered "yes it can, NICOLE. This ship is named after an ancient god of time that takes the form of a magnificent bird of prey. The god Solaris has been of some influence to me in other areas as well as the name of my flagship. I have a special ability, well... a transformation to be more precise, in which I don armour reminiscent of a phoenix. I have always held a love of birds and of flying, as I am sure you know very well by now, Lien-Da."

Lien-Da smiled with a hint of casual exasperation and said "of course." Bionics then said "well, that is the hanger and the power core completed. All that remains on this little tour is to see the bridge." He motioned and continued "If you will step a little closer to me, the pair of you" to which they both obliged. He concentrated quickly and then they were suddenly in a large metal corridor. It was at least twice as high in the corridor then Bionics even was. Both of the women were startled by the size of the corridor and Lien-Da exclaimed "dear sweet Aurora! Why is this corridor so large?"

Bionics chuckled and answered slowly "because it was scaled to fit the size of this ship's captain, not me." Lien-Da's expression became one of slow, dreadful realisation. "It was scaled to fit this ship's captain? Just how big is he?" Bionics smirked and said "you will see. Just follow me through these doors." As he said this and held his hand out to the massive metal double doors which undoubtedly led to the bridge, said doors slid apart to allow them entrance. It was quite an impressive space to be in; impressive in terms of empty space.

More of the veins of glowing light passed around the walls and ceilings of the bridge, but apart from that there was almost nothing within the chamber. There was a massive crystal observation window in front of them. From it they could just see Mobius very slowly spinning from high orbit. There were command consoles around the room, being attended to by figures attached to floor sockets with no torsos like in Bionics' planning room on the Spire, but they were all far apart and few in number.

In the very centre of the room was a massive gothic looking throne cast in black marble. It was based on a turntable so that the seat of power could shift and see everything in the room. It was a god's over-the-top attempt to create a swivel chair to suit his or her level of grandeur and, were it not for the size of the throne or the foreboding nature of who was occupying it, could have been seen as amusing. As they walked up behind the throne the turntable activated and slowly moved around so that they could see the person in the chair and vice versa.

Bionics smiled as he saw what he knew of as his old friend again, while Lien-Da and NICOLE both reacted with either a step backwards or a dropped jaw. Sitting in the gothic throne was a massive figure in a suit of antique, stylised plate armour coloured in both black and burgundy. He was at least 8 foot tall and as broad as a truck. His feet were not normal, as they had three, thick, talon-like toes at the front, and then one at the back, giving them a reptilian look. His head was overshadowed by a pair of curved metal horns. The head itself was armoured in such a way that only the smallest of slits was available to see out of. Beside the figure, on a long and broad metal chain which he held in his left hand, was what looked like a giant metal pair of interwoven scythe blades with a handle parallel to the chain link. They crossed like on a coat of arms, and had the same colours and ornamentation as his armour.

He paused with recognition of his friend and master and stood up with a size-related inevitability. Bionics held out his hand to him while looking at the two women beside him and announced "Lien-Da, NICOLE, I would like you to meet Shipmaster Veho." The armoured figure didn't say a word as he walked over to greet Bionics. As he did so he shrunk in size to match the machine god's height for a moment. He got to Bionics and gave him a curt handshake, saying with a deep, booming voicewhich had an almost robotic monotone "it is good to see you again, Bionics." Bionics returned the favour without a hint that Veho's forcefulness had actually tested his metallic wrist bones. Veho pulled away, clapping Bionics on the side of his right shoulder as the latter said "and the same to you, Veho."

Veho nodded deeply, and then turned to the two visitors to his ship. He gave a deep bow of greeting and respect to them and said "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, friends of my master." Both of the women managed to return the bow in unison and then Veho, having greeted all the necessary people, went back to his throne. As he did so he grew back to his original size. He sat back in the throne and it turned back around to face forwards. Bionics beckoned for Lien-Da and NICOLE to follow him around to the front and they did so. Bionics looked up at his super-dreadnought's Shipmaster as Veho looked down at him and said "so what threat is so great that it requires the _Solaris_ to enter the fray?"

"The instigator of this planet's current war, Scourge the Hedgehog, has an impressive sky fleet hidden down on the planet. It has defeated a section of my army and has the capacity to level my Battle Spire. For this reason I thought it would be best to bring in the _Solaris_ to counter this advantage." Veho gave him no indication as to his emotion as he said "do you not think that that might be somewhat overkill?"

Bionics laughed and said "well, you know what I always say, Veho. There is no kill like overkill. You should have some fun after all this time."

"Indeed" Veho murmured, but because his voice was so loud this murmur echoed around the room. "All these years waiting for a new opportunity for battle instead of being cooped up on the Diamond Alpha on 'standby position'. I am eager to fight and rain death down upon our foes." Bionics looked away from his Shipmaster, closed his eyes and gently shook his head. Good old, predictable Veho, always craving an honourable engagement to sate his battle lust. Bionics then turned to his two cohorts and explained to them "from this bridge, Veho can control the _Solaris_ like it were an extension of his body.

Each piece of information is not only monitored by these control units..." he pointed at the figures plugged into the sockets around the bridge, "...but also by the Shipmaster by way of the lines of light. These lines transfer all the energy and data to Veho and through the extension of his will he can make the _Solaris_ perform her duties in times no mortal crew could ever hope to achieve." Lien-Da nodded and then asked "How long has Shipmaster Veho been in your service, Bionics?"

Bionics frowned and said "I found him when I was on that planet I told you about, Lien-Da, the one where I briefly became mortal. He was a powerful spiritual figurehead called a 'Scyraea'. He was the Scyraea to one of the races on that world and he aided me in ending the conflict that was there and after I was able to return he decided to join me and become my servant. I needed someone to watch over my ship and thus he became Shipmaster. He has served me faithfully and well ever since then and we are good friends. Are we not, Veho?"

"Indeed we are, Bionics" Veho said quietly. The thing about Veho was that he was always very distant, very aloof in personality, and so didn't bother to try and engage in social pleasantries like Bionics would do. The god of machines then turned to look at the massive bladed weapon next to Veho on the chain. "You're still planning on keeping the Talon then, I take it?" Veho slowly looked at his blade, and then back at Bionics as he said "do you have a problem with my weapon of choice." Bionics shook his head to reassure the Scyraea and said "of course not, Veho. That weapon is what helped you to save my life, so I would never expect to see you with any other weapon.

Veho then turned back to stare out of the main observation window. Bionics suspected that his Shipmaster had had enough of talking. He therefore decided to take Lien-Da and NICOLE forward to the window, where it was revealed that there was a much larger squared bulb of crystal window upon which they could stand and have a better look at the planet. He led them down a metal ladder and soon they were all watching Mobius slowly turning under their feet. Lien-Da seemed to be mesmerised by the spectacle, and NICOLE seemed relatively impressed by it. Considering neither of them had been in orbit around the planet before this was going to be a new and exciting experience for them.

Lien-Da said quietly "this is just mind blowing! To stare down at a whole planet beneath you, knowing all that life, all that death, everything is going on. From up here, it's like its all non-existent." Bionics looked down at the planet as well in all its green and blue and white splendour. He couldn't help but agree with her. "You're right, it is like that. Mobius always was a very beautiful planet, be it from ground level or from space." They all stood and stared down at Mobius for just a moment, and then Bionics broke the silence and the spell by saying "well, I've shown you everything I think you need to see of the _Solaris_. I will take you both back to the planet."

Bionics translocated them all instantly back to the Spire's roof. NICOLE looked up at the still visible super-dreadnought floating ominously in space and said "I just hope that you can use it in time before Scourge gets his fleet against anything else."

"The thing is I have to wait until he attacks something for me to order the _Solaris_ in. Once she is in battle though, she will decimate Scourge's sky fleet. I will have to use her as little as possible though. _Solaris_ represents the most powerful weapon in my arsenal excluding this..." he pointed at Paragon in its sheath on his hip "... so you can imagine what will happen if I overuse her.

_Solaris_ is mainly used for space engagements or for felling planets. I do not want to use anything more than I absolutely must so as to prevent excessive damage to Mobius." NICOLE's face looked grave, and she nodded slowly as she said "very well, Bionics, I will inform the Council of Acorn of your ship's arrival and your plans for it. I wish you good luck, Bionics, take care."

"You as well, NICOLE, may the blessings of the Great Creator be upon you." NICOLE looked at him for a moment as she took in this new and interesting farewell, and then she decomposed into nothing once more.

* * *

Lien-Da felt like she had just woken up from some surreal dream. She turned to stare at Bionics with a puzzled little smile and she said "What is it with you, Bionics? We go through so many things in one day that are all so different, it's maddening sometimes. I mean, today alone we've been to see the Council of Acorn, you've made a new Source of All, We've fought off the dark side of my mind, and to top it all off we've had a tour of your newly arrived spaceship. How can you do so many different things like that in one day and act like its normal?"

Bionics had a deadpan look as he replied "because, in a way, that is normal for me. Lots of things can happen in the course of a single day that can change the world. I can react to and instigate all these things, Lien-Da, because I have a duty to finish my mission quickly. We gods are not allowed to linger and tarry on our missions unless the Creator tells us so, and that occurrence is rarer than I care to mention." Lien-Da didn't physically react yet. She now knew why all this was going so fast, but still felt like it was somehow rather a lot to cope with. Instead she decided to ask a more trivial question of Bionics.

"You said that that sword on your hip is your ultimate weapon. Care to explain how a sword is more powerful than a super-dreadnought?" Bionics looked down at his sheathed sword, then looked back at her and said "this sword is a gift from the Great Creator Himself when I became a member of the Concilium. It is called Paragon. Perhaps you saw me check it before we went to retake Freedom HQ. The blade is forged of pure Creator's Diamond. Even the hilt here, while made of an ornate metal, is detailed with Creator's Diamond patterns. I am forbidden to use it unless in the absolute direst of circumstances, and I mean Multiverse-threatening circumstances."

Lien-Da stared at the hilt of Paragon with its shining golden metal, its stylised hand guard shaped in upturned angel wings and its gently glowing Creator's Diamond ornamentation. She asked him "may I see it?" Bionics looked slightly fearful at this question. He said tentatively "I don't know if I am allowed. Even to unsheathe it like this runs the risk of receiving the Creator's wrath. This weapon is not even at full power, but it still has the potential to do great damage." Lien-Da understood, and decided to stifle her curiosity on this occasion. She waved her hand dismissively and said "Okay then, there's no need to show it to me if it will cause any trouble."

Bionics smiled with reassurance and said "thank you, Lien-Da." He then looked up at the sky, which was now turning orange as the evening encroached upon them. He looked up at the _Solaris_, and as he did it seemed to slowly melt away and vanish. Lien-Da, who was also looking up, said "hey, where did the ship go?" Bionics looked back at her and answered "The _Solaris_ has just cloaked, so that Scourge will not know about it just yet." The Kommissar simply nodded in understanding. Bionics continued "I think we should go down to dinner now and discuss events with Dimitri. We still need to keep him in the loop of things, he is still Grandmaster." Lien-Da nodded in agreement and then they both went over to lifts and down to the dining hall to finish off the day.

* * *

Author's notes: Phew! I had a few fears about this chapter. I originally was going to use a Final Fantasy character to be the Shipmaster of the _Solaris_, that of Famfrit from Final Fantasy Tactics, but I decided not to overlap the realities if only for reasons of originality. My thanks go to MechBoyOfDoom for allowing me to have my second thoughts about the use of Famfrit with all the good grace I have come to expect of him. Anyway, onto trivia time, children! Veho is Latin (of course) and it means 'to sail' or 'to carry', so it fits the description of a being who sails a giant starship around the Multiverse. And yes, I know Bionics drew his sword in Chapter 13, and now he's saying he shouldn't, but curiosity killed the anthropomorphic humanoid hedgehog... deity... thing. *Sigh*, it's not easy being a writer. Well folks, I did say this chapter would be a quiet one, and the next one will be only slightly different. Next time, you all get to find some personal things out about Bionics, and Lien-Da will be meeting some very key figures from her past, when she tries 'Finding Forgiveness'.


	19. Chapter 17: Finding Forgiveness

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are the copyright of either Sega and/or Archie comics. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Finding Forgiveness**

Over that evening's dinner they had presented their account of the day to the otherwise absent Dimitri. The Grandmaster was less than pleased that he had been left out of these very important circles, and made clear his opinion on the matter. "If we are going to maintain our cooperation in the Dark Alliance, then as one of the leaders I must be involved in the politics of things. My granddaughter handles the warfare, I deal with diplomacy. Please keep me in the loop." Bionics had nodded solemnly and said "of course, Dimitri, I shall endeavour to meet your request."

Dimitri also looked at Lien-Da, who nodded quietly as well and then went back to her meal. After this there was a slightly cold atmosphere around them all as they finished dinner and separated. Lien-Da went to her bedroom and got into bed feeling a little cold. Dimitri was still something of a concern to her. She knew that overthrowing him was the wrong thing to do now, but even so he was becoming something of a liability to her. He was still a good leader and politician, she would grant him that, but he wasn't getting out there and feeling the heat of battle on his face. He couldn't understand what needed to be done in the Dark Legion, or the Dark Alliance for that matter.

He may have to step down, but he wouldn't do it just like that. Maybe Bionics could help her in convincing her great-great-grandfather to hand over command of the Legion to her. Lien-Da closed her eyes and fell asleep still thinking deeply about the matter. When she woke up again on the fifth day she found herself still dwelling on the subject. She felt she shouldn't obsess over the matter, as it could lead back to her old craving for power, and then her darker side might come back with it. She got up and looked in the wardrobe to find someone had provided her with spare leather bodysuits. She put one on and walked casually down to the dining hall for breakfast.

There it was the same as before. Bionics was to be seen eating his own special cereal and a cup of tea at the head of the table, Dimitri was enjoying a similar cereal breakfast on the god's left hand side, and Lien-Da's own seat remained empty for her. She sat down and then several slices of buttered toast appeared before her on a plate along with a cup of black coffee. As she ate her unconscious instincts betrayed her as she couldn't stop switching intermittently between staring at Bionics and staring at Dimitri. She desperately wanted to talk to Bionics about the matter concerning her, but wanted to do so well away from her ancestor's keen eyes and ears. She munched on through her toast and sipped her coffee in her desperate attempt to appear nonchalant.

Finally, breakfast ended and the Dark Legion dispersed to do as each member saw fit. Dimitri left quietly and then Bionics swept majestically out as the penultimate person to exit the room. Lien-Da quickly caught up with him as he reached the lift. He turned as she reached him and said "Lien-Da, can I help you?"

"Yes you can, Bionics. Is there somewhere that we can talk that's... away from anyone else?" Bionics frowned with concern and said slowly "yes, I suppose we could. First, though, I would like to go somewhere else for... personal reasons. You're welcome to come along if you so desire."

Lien-Da nodded and decided to play along with him. They went to point of the Spire just above the simulator chambers. When she stepped out into it she was met by quite the surreal sight. There was very little lighting in the space they had both just entered. What little light there was to have was soothing blue and gentle white and seem to come from nowhere and illuminate only very specific areas and the pair of entrants. The architecture was smooth and flowing like waves in the ocean. There a single large door which led into an unknown chamber past what Lien-Da now realised was a main lobby. She turned to Bionics, whose eye and multicoloured chest piece stood out more in the lack of light, and asked him "Where in Aurora's name are we?"

"This is the Chamber of the Dead, a special chamber which I can use to make contact with the souls of dead mortals" Bionics said solemnly. "Almost all souls, when they die, pass into Elysium, an infinite realm located inside the Diamond Alpha to shelter all spirits in eternal rest and paradise. This chamber allows me to contact them without disturbing their blissful rest. I am going to seek some guidance from... one of these mortals." Lien-Da was now only half paying attention. A place where one could talk to the dead? She believed it was true, but she felt a sudden and sad desire to do something here. She turned to Bionics, but before she could say a word he beat her to it. "Yes, Lien-Da, if you wish to speak with any of your deceased family then I will not stop you from doing so. You may go in first, and I will wait for you to finish."

Lien-Da was utterly lost for words, so she simply nodded quickly and without hesitation made her way into the door right in front of her. The room inside was also decorated with wave sculpture and design. And in front of the far wall was a plinth which was being held aloft by a carved stone jet of water. She slowly closed the door behind her and approached the plinth as she was illumined by the soothing lights. She reached the plinth, and as she did so the swirling energies she now saw in the basin rose up and began to take form. Soon, the energies had shaped to become what was to Lien-Da a very familiar face.

Although only the head and shoulders were visible of him, there was absolutely no mistaking the Echidna she had once called father; Luger. His fur was purple in colour, and he had a crop of black yet silvering hair which was slicked back over his head. He had eyebrows of the same colour which extended in neat tufts past his foremost dreadlocks. The area of his cheeks just beneath his eyes had metal plates to signify bionic enhancement, and the shoulder pads of his grey uniform vest were present in what could be seen of him. He was surrounded by a pale aura of aqua light which flowed and rippled like some strange mixture of smoke and water combined.

He looked around the now better illuminated chamber slowly, and then looked at his shocked daughter. He frowned in puzzlement as he looked upon her, and as he spoke it was calmly and slowly and had a gentle echoing whisper behind it. "Lien-Da... is it really you I see before me?"Lien-Da let out a small gasp of emotional upwelling and stepped gently forward. "Yes, father, I'm here." Luger then smiled beatifically at her and said "Oh, my daughter, it is good to see you again after all this time." Lien-Da was surprised by this reaction. She had expected him to be angry at her. She had been the one who had murdered him after all. Her voice was quiet as she continued "how can you be pleased to see me? I... I killed you. In my desire to take the Dark Legion from you I killed you. Does that not mean anything to you?" Her father's expression did not change by one once as he gave his gentle reply.

"Yes, you did take my life, but I do not begrudge you for that. In a way you released me from a great burden in life. I had lost two wives, one through illness and one also taken by your hand. Though you may not have seen it in your lust for power, losing both Merin-Da and Mari-Su devastated my soul to live with. Without them, there was no guiding light in my life, or my heart. I sought nothing more than to pass on and return to them. By ending me, you allowed me to return to both the women I loved. Despite all the pain that you and they and I had to endure through the course of this, you have done right by me in the end."

By now Lien-Da was becoming quite emotional about it all and she felt the beginnings of tears start to well in her eyes. Then Luger did something which only made it worse. "Both of them are with me, here and now." As he finished saying this, the mist surrounding him built up and then both Merin-Da and Mari-Su appeared on either side of him. Merin-Da had her luxuriant eyelashes and her short white dress with the odd metal brazier. Mari-Su too had long lashes, she wore her scaled vest with its zip-up collar and had her fringe hair styled into several bangs which glided above her face. The Kommissar turned to look at both her mother and stepmother in turn, saying "mother... Mari-Su... I... I..." She felt the first tears that had built up begin to fall down her cheeks and she fell to her knees in sadness. She heard Merin-Da say, in her gentle motherly tone "please don't cry, Lien-Da. To see you again after all these years is a joyous thing."

"She is right" Mari-Su joined in as Lien-Da now looked up at the pair of them. "All three of us are happy and content, and to know you have come this far in life, to meet you in the flesh before you are to join us is a pleasurable thing." Lien-Da looked at them both with blatant emotional pain in her eyes. "But I hurt you all so much!" she wailed sorrowfully. "I destroyed our family! I don't understand why none of you are angry at everything I did." Merin-Da stared into her daughter's eyes with a strange ethereal sadness and replied "We exist now in Elysium, the realm that some may call heaven. Here there is no death, no sickness, no pain and no anger. We are released from all our material woes here. We have no more reason to be angry at you, my beloved Lien-Da, and so take comfort in our forgiveness of your actions."

Lien-Da felt a surge of both sadness and relief at this fateful turn of events. She had met with those in her family long past and had come to terms with their absolution of her. Despite what she had done to Mari-Su and Luger they had now both made their peace with her. She was a changed woman from the one that had committed these evils now; she had been so ever since Bionics had arrived and shown her the true strength of compassion and love. He had proverbially baptised her soul, and now that he had shown her the family she had broken apart, her own, and they had forgiven her she felt humbled and purified.

Luger now spoke up once more and said to his daughter "We can tell that you are talking to us through something which only one of the gods can use. How did you acquire this technology?" Lien-Da frowned ever so slightly and replied "Me and the Legion are being looked after by a god. His name is Bionics, a god of machines. He is here on Mobius to stop a war we are fighting in and to complete a task for the other gods." She then paused, as she wondered whether to reveal the most important detail. In the end, she decided they should know and told them. "Bionics and I are bonded by the Soultouch, I... I think I love him, and he feels the same way." All three of the ethereal figures seemed surprised and delighted by what they heard.

"That is wonderful, Lien-Da" Mari-Su said happily. "You have found your partner in life at last! I hope you and he spend the rest of your days happy together." Lien-Da smiled with gratitude "Thank you, Mari-Su. I hope we will be together for our lives as well. Anyway, I am glad that you, all of you, are at peace and happy together in Elysium. It was good to finally make my peace with you all." Luger now said the last words for any of them, saying "You are now a much better person, Lien-Da. This god of machines has shown you the light that you have hidden from in your many years. Now bask in its glow and be with him. You and he share the Soultouch, destiny calls you two together. We all wish you a long and prosperous life, my beloved daughter. Farewell, Lien-Da..." With those final and sombre words, all three of them slowly melted and became smoke again, before flowing back into the plinth from which they had been projected.

Lien-Da continued to stare at where her father, mother and stepmother had just been. Then she slowly and gradually got to her feet and wiped the residual tears from her eyes and cheeks. She took one last, long look at the plinth, and then she turned slowly around and walked out of the chamber. She went back into the central atrium and found Bionics had not moved by even one micron since she had been in the room. She said to him "Well, I'm done, you may use it now." Bionics simply nodded without any other facial indicator as to his emotions. He marched gracefully past and through the door, which shut behind him. She waited there for him for about a minute or two but then felt a sudden and terrible wave of curiosity overcome her senses as she wondered who he could be talking to in there. She went tentatively up to the entrance door and put her head to it in an attempt to hear inside. She heard Bionics' voice muffled against the decorative sable wood of the door as he said "well, it was a pleasure to speak with you again, mother. Can I speak with Emily now?"

"Of course, I will leave you two to talk in private" said the soothing female voice that had to be Bionics' mother. Lien-Da felt a strange sensation of amazement and sympathy for Bionics. Even after all these years he still had to talk to his mother while she was dead. He still looked to her, it seemed, for guidance and company every once in a while. Then she wondered who this 'Emily' might be, but she decided not to start making assumptions about anything. She heard the faint sound of swirling energies that meant something new was forming in that room's plinth. She heard a slight pause and then Bionics' voice broke the succinct silence. "It is good to see you again, Emily"...

* * *

Bionics had left Lien-Da in the atrium after she had finished in the chamber, and had gone in fully aware of what he was doing in regards to who he wanted to talk to. He went up to the plinth and waited for the briefest of moments. The swirling energies inside the plinth rose up and took the form of a light violet hedgehog in her early forties. She had the same blue eyes as Bionics, and she had the same style of quills on her head, albeit shorter than his. She wore the beginnings of a turquoise sweater on her chest and shoulders. She had a fluffy fringe on her forehead which swept down elegantly in such a manner that she could still clearly see past it. The fringe had little streaks of dark grey in it, indicating her age a little more obviously.

Bionics smiled as he saw the familiar face and she smiled back at him. He said quietly "good morning, mother." The smile on his mother's lips grew to become a grin of happiness as she replied "good morning, Gabriel. Or would you prefer Bionics now?" Bionics gave little huff of embarrassment and replied "I still find it difficult to live with when you and all the rest of my family call me by my real first name. I don't mind if you call me Gabriel, so if you want to then do so." His mother, whose was called Elizabeth, nodded slowly and said to him "very well, Gabriel it is. So, what brings you here to talk to me, darling?"

Bionics looked into his mother's eyes and said "I just wanted to have a talk with you about things. I've returned home, mother, I'm on Mobius right now." Elizabeth tilted her head as she continued to look at her son. "No doubt you are on a mission for the Great Creator." Bionics nodded to confirm her accuracy. He was always taken aback at the amount of savoir-faire she could have about everything surrounding him, his powers and his duties. "Yes, I'm dealing with a war on the planet right now. Things in the timelines are not running correctly, I have to correct them." He decided to leave out the part about Diabolus for now. He didn't want his mother dithering over his safety now.

Elizabeth shook her head and said "I can't help but worry about you when you go off on these dangerous missions for your master. I know you will return to us if you should pass on, Gabriel, but I can't bear the thought of you being in pain." Bionics could not help but drift mentally over the excruciating injuries he had already sustained three days ago and only just yesterday. He had best not mention those details either. He sighed, shook his own head and said "mother, I'm 12,000 years old approximately, I think I know how to handle myself when doing my master's work."

This was one of those awkward occasions that very rarely occur when a god and a mortal relative are forced to converse. Often the age gaps are enough to cause humour among onlookers. Bionics himself always found some exasperated amusement when, despite the fact he was one of the most powerful gods in the Multiverse and had fought and done so much in his life that would be the stuff of legend to many a civilisation, his mother still managed to treat him like he was the young and emotional adolescent he had been when he had been forced to leave her so abruptly.

Then Bionics decided to tell Elizabeth about Lien-Da. "I've found someone, mother, I have found a girl on the planet. She is an Echidna, her name is Lien-Da and I honestly think I love her." Elizabeth's expression became one of elation now and she said "oh, darling, that's brilliant! Tell me about her."

"Well, she's in her early thirties and she's a warrior and second-in-command of an Echidna faction. She... dresses in a less than formal manner but, I don't honestly care about that. Her face... her face is beautiful, mother. She was quite cold when I first met her, but now she's so much kinder and better. I really do love her."

Elizabeth gave that strange coo of happiness that only a mother can give to a son. "Aww, I'm really happy for you, Gabriel. I hope you and she are happy together, but being a god I wonder if you may be forced to leave her." Bionics looked slightly away and nodded slowly as he agreed and thought about what his mother had said. "Yes, I will have to make a choice about that soon, but I do not have to make it just yet. I still have my duties to consider before my emotions." Elizabeth bowed her head and replied "As you wish, Gabriel."

Bionics gave a familial smile and after a moment he said "well, it was a pleasure to speak with you again, mother. Can I speak with Emily now?" She smiled all the more and said soothingly "Of course, I will leave you two to talk in private." Bionics' mother than faded away into the still swirling ether and after the briefest of times it reformed into a new figure. It was another girl and another Hedgehog, and she was about the same age Bionics had once been when he had been made a god; 18 years old. She was the same light shade of purple as Elizabeth, and had the exact same eyes, but had her three head quills styled down to look more like a standard Hedgehog. She had three bangs on her forehead which curved down just above and between her eyes. Over her eyes was a pair of dark green sunglasses, which rested in front of her vision like thin, translucent leaves.

He smiled with recognition of this new figure, as he had with his mother, and said "It is good to see you again, Emily." Bionics' sister grinned toothily back at him and replied "It's good to see you too, Gabriel. How's being a god treating you?" Bionics chuckled and said "oh, well enough. I've been ending wars, battling old friends, falling in love, the usual." Emily laughed as well and then said "Oh, you've found some love have you? That's good going on you, you lucky git." Bionics could not help but chuckle again at his sister's laid back attitude, even when in Elysium.

Emily went on "so, tell me all." Bionics smiled and closed his eyes and said "Her name is Lien-Da, she is an Echidna, I helped her and the faction she is a part of to a new level of strength. Apart from that I'm not giving you any ammunition to tease me with."

"I don't need any more than the fact you have a girlfriend now" Emily said with a tone of mock malice. Bionics groaned and said "She's not my girlfriend as such, more like my lover." Emily sighed in return and raised her hands up in a bit of playful mockery. "Always the politically correct one, aren't you, brother?"

"I can't help it if that's the way I was brought up, Emily. Anyway, how's Elysium treating you?" Emily went back to a warm smile and replied "oh, the usual. Eternal bliss and happiness with no pain or anger or evil, it never gets old though. It's still interesting to find out what you're up to when you come calling." Bionics bowed his head to show that he was glad to be of some appeasement to his sister. It interesting how much older she looked from his best memories of her. She had been three years his junior when he had become a god, but then there had been the time between his ascension and the Xorda attack on old Earth. In that time she had aged to become the same age as he had been when he had become a god.

Then Emily said "well, that's all I needed to talk about. D'you want to talk to Kyle or Ben?" Bionics shook his head and said "I can't, much though I would love to. I have to get on with my duties for the day." Emily gave him an accusing look and retorted "more like you want to run off with your 'lover' and spend some time with her. Have you slept with her yet?" Bionics' eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise at this last question. His voice's pitch rose by half an octave as he said "Emily! What a question to ask now of all times. No, I have not slept with her." Emily smiled and continued audaciously "you'll have something to tell me about when you next see me then, won't you?"

Bionics smiled, but with a tinge of annoyance and exasperation, at his rather socially blunt sister. "I think that's enough about my love life now. In fact I think it's time I set off. It was good to see mother and you again." Emily didn't say another word to this. She just smiled cheekily, waved her goodbye and then melted into the ether which floated back into the plinth. Bionics took a moment of brief reflection of his conversation, then slowly walked up to the chamber door. When it opened he found Lien-Da standing right in front of him. All it took was a glance at her face, combined with the fact she was as close to the door as she was, for Bionics to work out that she had been eavesdropping on his conversation.

He wasn't angry at her, or even annoyed, but he did feel a strange sensation that he should react badly to her actions inside his soul. He decided to ignore this desire and instead simply said "it is considered discourteous to eavesdrop on other people, especially when it is a matter of family." Lien-Da looked guiltily at the floor before Bionics slowly and very gently raised her head back up by her chin. He smiled and said "I don't mind, just have some courtesy next time. I didn't listen to you or your family, what transpired in there is your business, so next time just be considerate."

Lien-Da smiled at him and said "okay, Bionics." He took his hand away from her chin, and then she took a step back and said "Now that that's done, I wanted to talk to you about something important. Can we go somewhere private?" Bionics frowned a little, but said "of course, Lien-Da." She led him to the lifts and they both went up to the floor on which they had their bedrooms.

* * *

Author's notes: HOORAY FOR BRITISHNESS! (As in 'lucky git'.) Also, how _do_ you cope when you're a god _and_ have a mum? All the endless dithering... Updates are becoming slower these days, I know, but then I've been helping family with their business and also I'm finding it hard to motivate myself into writing. I have found a new source of encouragement though, so there's no need to worry. Once again, not much to say, really. Well, I've given you Bionics _real_ first name, and his surname will be revealed later on, but for the purposes of the story, he will still be Bionics. (Besides, if you can get away with 'Sonic', then 'Bionics' isn't going to really kick up a fuss.) In the next chapter, your patience, dear readers, is rewarded. We finally get a little bit more action as our protagonists face 'Confrontation and Change' (and a lot of shouting).


	20. Chapter 18: Confrontation and Change

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are copyright of either Sega, Archie comics or Ken Penders (Because now he exclusively owns Lien-Da, Julie-Su, the Dark Legion and all other comic characters he himself created). Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Confrontation and Change**

Lien-Da led Bionics through the corridor that led to her sleeping quarters. She had been quite emotional back in the Chamber of the Dead, but now she was going to be serious and even a little cold if necessary. She had now returned to thinking about Dimitri and his usefulness to the Dark Legion and the Dark Alliance. He was still a brilliant scientist and a capable tactician, but right now they needed a strong military leader to get them through the remainder of this war. She did wonder if she was being a bit too judgemental about the situation. She would just have to run this nagging feeling past Bionics and see what he thought.

She actually guided him by the hand as she reached her bedroom door and they opened for them both to step in. The log fire was, as ever, still burning brightly and filling the room with friendly warmth and an old fashioned sense of the regal. Even though it hadn't been there the last time she had been in the room, there was now a second plush chair beside her room's coffee table. They both sat down in one of the chairs, but not before Bionics had caused all of his weapons to disappear from his person so he could sit down more easily.

They took just a moment to settle into their comfortable and warm environment, and then Bionics asked, "Well, Lien-Da, what can I do for you?" Lien-Da reclined in her chair and said, "Bionics, what I am going to talk to you about is supremely confidential and I would prefer not to speak of it to anyone else. I trust you not to tell anyone, okay?" Bionics looked quite concerned at this, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt and said, "Of course." Lien-Da closed her eyes for a moment, inhaled slowly, and said with equal slowness, "I can't stop thinking about a need for change in the Dark Legion's leadership, Bionics. I genuinely think it would be better now if I took command of the Legion from Dimitri."

Bionics did not react to this simple statement. He did not get angry or shocked or relieved, he didn't even freeze where he sat. He just continued to sit with one leg crossed over the other with his hands formed up in front of his chin like a steeple, and looked at her. He then replied in a quiet way, "I see, do continue." Lien-Da felt that this lack of true reaction was greatly off-putting, but she ploughed on. "I feel... I feel like I deserve more. I feel like I deserve to be in command of the Dark Legion myself, I should be its Grandmaster. I am part of the line of Grandmaster's. My father was, my brother was, I should be next in line. It's been snatched away from me at every turn. My brother stole the title from me, Dimitri returned and reassumed command. Even when I did have the power once, there was the damn schism and the Dark Legion became two different groups. I can't help but feel like asking why is it that I am destined never to have this power? I feel I deserve it or at least a reason why not."

"I think you deserve it too."

Lien-Da paused at this statement. "...What?" Bionics' face did not change emotionally, and neither did he change his bodily position, as he elaborated on his previous statement. "I think you deserve to be Grandmaster as well. If it is your birthright and you were the next in line then you should be in that position. You are no longer dark, or angry, and you are worthy to lead the Legion to a much better future. Before that though I must ask you one question, will you do what is best for the Dark Legion and the Alliance?"

Lien-Da was genuinely shocked by this question. "What do you mean?"

Bionics was deadly stern as he went on "when you have that power, Lien-Da, will you rule over the Dark Legion well, or will you be tempted to follow your own agenda again? Will you use that power or abuse it? I know you still have some belief that Echidnas are the 'superior' species for being the first to attain civilisation, and I know you see having cybernetics as natural, but when you have the power you crave will you do the right thing with it or will you re-descend into your darker ways and shatter and burn everything we have worked for?"

Lien-Da felt the twinge of being emotionally hurt. "I... How can you ask that? Of course I wouldn't do that."

"I am glad of that, Lien-Da, because if you weren't sure I would not help you attain the position you desire."

"I still get the sense you are disapproving of all this. Look, what will it take to get your full support, Bionics?"

Now Bionics did shift himself. He put both feet on the floor, lowered his hands, gripped his knees and leant forwards. "Three things: First, when you are Grandmaster you must show the most concern for the soldiers under you, they are not mindless drones or cannon fodder for you to expend. Treat your underlings well and you will earn their respect more than if you rule them with an iron fist. Of course I do not expect you to be ruthless anyway now, but even so I am just letting you know this my first condition.

Second, you should use your position as Grandmaster to use the Dark Legion for the right reasons. Starting up a fresh conflict with the Brotherhood of Guardians or the Republic of Acorn or anyone else like that is not acceptable. Only deploy the Legion for aiding those who need help and for those who have good intentions. I trust you can do this without me being with you." She nodded slowly and said, "Alright, and the third thing I should do?"

"The third thing you should do, and forgive me for bringing it up, is that I want you to make up with your half-sister." Lien-Da actually had to pause a moment to take in just what she had heard Bionics say. When it finally hit her mind she said, perhaps with a bit too much of an angry tone. "What did you say?" Bionics' expression was sad as he repeated himself quietly, "I want you to apologise to and make up with Julie-Su." Lien-Da did feel an unexpected surge of anger course through her systems, but she tried as hard as possible not to be angry at Bionics. She had strong feelings for him, and he just didn't want to get mad at him for something that might actually do her some good.

The prospect of actually talking and making up with her half-sister was... not a comfortable one. She had pretty much made Julie-Su's life a living hell through the latter's younger years, she had even had a few instances where she had had her sibling's memory wiped so that she would never figure out what Lien-Da herself and even Kragok had done to her in her life. Julie-Su was most likely not going to be pleased to have her go anywhere near her, and even how Lien-Da was apprehensive of talking to her half-sister. Even after becoming a much better person at heart she still felt that twinge of negativity that one always gets after so many years of solid, unyielding hatred and dislike.

She refocused her gaze on Bionics' grave face and sighed outwardly. She closed her eyes with a pained look on her features and nodded in what felt like defeat. When she opened her eyes again it was to see Bionics' face then shift, to her relief, back to his familiar and compassionate smile. Lien-Da continued to stare at Bionics now with a strange fluttery feeling in her heart. It could have just been her but seeing him smile like that, combined with the warm glow and illumination from the fire, made him somehow look... more handsome. She could not stop herself from being lost in her concentrating on his face until he shifted forward and stood up from his chair.

He went over to her chair and held out his hand to help her up just like a gentleman. She took his hand and he delicately pulled her up. He said to her "Now we just need to find a way of contacting Julie-Su and then we-" He was cut off as out of the blue, NICOLE started to materialise in front of the pair of them. Before she fully formed up, Bionics and Lien-Da separated hands quickly but in a friendly way. When she did appear, her face looked a little concerned. She said calmly, "Bionics, Lien-Da. Scourge has gathered a portion of his forces on the plains three miles north-east of New Mobotropolis. We think he's preparing an attack on the city. Our forces are going out to meet his army, along with a group of free agents called the Chaotix. We need some support from you if possible." Lien-Da felt a strange sensation of fate. The Chaotix were joining the battle and, oddly enough, Julie-Su was a member of the Chaotix, so it would be the perfect excuse to make her peace with her half-sister.

Bionics then turned to her and told her, "I don't plan to take any soldiers with me for this mission. I think it would be best if the Dark Legion didn't come either. I know it sounds mad, but I get the sensation that this battle is something of a ruse." Lien-Da frowned at him inquisitively and asked him, "a ruse?" Bionics nodded and looked between her and NICOLE as he gave his explanation. "The fact that Scourge is gathering his forces a few miles from the Republic of Acorn's capital is not in itself an oddity, but they're not starting to move? Or even attack? It has no logic to it. Scourge should be at least moving to an offensive by now, but instead he's just sitting, building up and waiting for us. That's the key point; he is waiting for_ us_, or possibly even for _me_."

Both of the women were not shocked to hear this, instead they merely nodded their heads in understanding of what was going on. Bionics then turned solely to NICOLE and said, "relay the following to the Council of Acorn and your military chief of staff. I advise that the Republic's armed forces should not fully mobilise over this. Sonic, the Chaotix any of the other Freedom Fighters that wish to come along should do so. Me, Lien-Da, Dimitri and possibly Rosy will also attend and see if we can't deal with this madness. I will send you a pair of Guardian transports to help get everyone there." NICOLE replied, "Your requests will be relayed to the council. For all our sakes I hope they agree, and also that your plan works. Good luck, Bionics." The A.I. bowed slightly in respect of the machine god, and then she dissipated into the background of Lien-Da's bedroom.

Lien-Da didn't need to know what Bionics was going to say to her next. Before he could even open his mouth she had moved away from him and reached to the coffee table beside her, upon which rested her energy whip. As she picked it up and stood up straight she saw him give her a look of admiration for knowing what he was about to say. He then said, "Do you want your power armour?" She nodded and then Bionics snapped his fingers with a strange resonance to it. In an instant the air directly around her body blurred and her leather bodysuit was replaced with her power armour. Lien-Da activated her energy whip and switched it to rapier mode. As she did this Bionics closed his eyes to send what she now recognised as a telepathic command for a pair of Guardian air transports to launch from the _Solaris_ and pick up the rest of the counter strike force from New Mobotropolis.

Lien-Da deactivated her weapon's thin red blade as Bionics finished. She allowed the hilt to magnetise to her hip, then took her helmet facemask of the opposite hip and placed it to her face. The rest of the helmet formed around her head and she adjusted her vision to the HUD. Bionics then nodded seriously at her and he led her off to find Dimitri. Firstly, though, they checked up once more on Rosy down in the simulation chambers. They found her fighting and more often successfully slamming her dreadful hammer down on a fake Scourge's head. Bionics explained to the hammer-happy child that they would be leaving to go and meet with Scourge, and that she could come along so long as she promised, cross her heart and hope to die, not to deliver 'smashies' on him until they said so.

Rosy had agreed with an unexpected degree of calmness about the matter. It seemed all the time spent successfully beating up a simulated Scourge had actually delivered a positive effect on Rosy's still quite fragile yet recovering mind. After this she had joined them both as they went to see Dimitri and they explained the situation and plan. He had nodded quickly to show his consent and then they had all been translocated away by Bionics to the battlefield in his customary flash of cyan light.

* * *

When they arrived on the plain where Scourge was gathering a split second after leaving the Spire, Bionics had told them all to get down, and they had done so. They then all lay in a prone position in the grass and observed Scourge's gathered army. It was quite small for one of his armies, only a hundred or so soldiers, which only reinforced Bionics' theory about this being something of a bluff manoeuvre. He felt, once again, that apprehensive tingle in his metallic spine that all people get before a battle or something potentially dangerous. They saw plenty of soldiers around, VTOL attack craft, and tanks, but Scourge himself was not to be seen. It was a possibility he was not even here, but if Scourge had done this to lure out Bionics then he would want to attend it personally.

They waited there for another minute roughly, and then they saw the pair of Guardians fly in from the direction of New Mobotropolis to where the four of them all were. Bionics stood up and waited for them to arrive. There was no attempt of any kind from Scourge's forces to shoot down the planes or attack Bionics and his comrades, further confirming the machine god's suspicions about this event. The two Guardians landed quietly beside the four of them as Lien-Da, Dimitri and Rosy all got up from the grass as well. Lien-Da took off her helmet, hooked the resulting facemask onto her belt, went up to Bionics' side and, to his slight surprise, held onto his hand as if seeking some emotional support from him. Then they all went to greet their new arrivals.

There was Sonic, Tails, Sally, Amy, Antoine and Bunnie from the Freedom Fighters, and then there was a new group of individuals who came out of the second Guardian. He noted each newcomer's species and at least one distinguishing feature or more. First of all was a bright green Crocodile, slightly taller than him, with a massive pair of DJ headphones on his head, black boots and no visible weaponry. Second was a black-bodied Armadillo with a bright scarlet shell and also no weapons. Third was a purple Chameleon with gloves and shoes like those of a ninja, a small dagger in a sheath on his right shoe and a bandolier of shuriken stars around his back and chest. Fourth was a radiant yellow Flying Squirrel with a blue jacket and blue shoes and a set of throwing sedative darts around his belt. It was the last two individuals that really caught Bionics' eye.

They were both Echidnas for a start, one male and one female, and they both had a look about them which suggested they were hardened warriors. The male was scarlet like Lien-Da, but he had no extra hair above his dreadlocks and he had no mechanical implantations or body parts. His eyes were a dark shade of violet and had a look of pure, stubborn determination. His shoes were red and yellow and had a studded metal plate on top of each one, his socks were green, and he had gloves which didn't split into separate fingers and had a pair of spikes on them both. Aside from this he wore no other clothing, much like many other male Mobians. The female, similarly, had violet eyes but her fur colour was pink. By contrast to the male, she wore a vest which was blue and striped on the left half and pitch black on the right. She wore knee-high blue boots which were ribbed and ever so slightly puffed. She had a golden belt around her waist from which hung a relatively high tech looking double-barrelled pistol, and yet she wore nothing to cover her lower body. Her left arm was a cybernetic replacement with a glove on. Also very much like Lien-Da, she had a single cybernetic dreadlock on her left hand side as well.

Bionics could tell instantly that this female was in fact Lien-Da's half-sister, Julie-Su. The bionic dreadlock was the first indicator, the second being the vaguely similar hair and hairstyle she had on top of her head. She bore a couple of facial similarities, but looked to be approximately a decade and a half younger than her older sibling. She and the male Echidna displayed a degree of closeness to each other that gave the god the accurate impression that they were a couple. They were the first to make their way up to Bionics and Lien-Da, and when they did get there they just stood in silence for a short while. Julie-Su looked at her half-sister, then up at Bionics, then at their joined hands. She put two and two together and got full marks for reaching the correct conclusion.

"...You two really are a couple now, aren't you?" she asked without a hint of familiarity towards Lien-Da, who gave absolutely no response. Bionics noticed her voice bore a small similarity to her stepsister's, but only a slight one. He gently let go of Lien-Da's hand and said to Julie-Su, "You are Julie-Su then, Lien-Da's stepsister?" Julie-Su looked at him now, and her expression softened almost imperceptibly. "Yes, I am. You must be Bionics, the _Machina Deus,_" she replied with a careful measure of cold courtesy. Bionics bowed gentlemanly and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you at last." Julie-Su bowed her head in return and then Bionics turned to Lien-Da and said, "Do you want me with you for this?"

Before she could give a reply, a voice shattered the calm around them as it was amplified though what must have been a megaphone. "Bionics, I know you're among that miserable gang! Stop cowering and face me over here!" It was Scourge; he was beginning to lose his patience. Bionics looked over at Scourge's gathered army, and when he looked back at Lien-Da she said to him, "I would, but it looks like I haven't got much choice. Go and speak with Scourge, I can do this now." Bionics felt sorry for her, as he knew this would be quite difficult, and so he simply shook his head once, indicated Sonic and the others should go over without him, and then turned to face Scourge's forces. When he shouted over to reply, it was amplified to equal megaphone levels. "Scourge, you can wait for me for a moment longer! I have some more important business to attend to than you!" After he had finished the others all started walking up to face the one who had called them all here.

* * *

All of the others left to see Scourge, which left Lien-Da, Julie-Su and Bionics standing close by the Guardian transports, still quietly humming with energy on standby status. Lien-Da turned from the group to face her stepsister, whose own expression was one of disdain to be in her presence, and curiosity as to what was about to happen. She asked snappishly, "Well, Lien-Da, what's this supposed to be about?"Lien-Da's expression became a little pained as she took in a deep breath. She looked at Bionics, who nodded solemnly back. This was it. There was no going back now. She mentally built herself up to it, and then she began her reply.

"Julie-Su, spending the last five days in the care of Bionics has... changed me a lot. He's taught me about the better and more positive aspects of life I can benefit from." Julie-Su tilted her head and frowned, her disdainful look not abating. "What are you talking about, Lien-Da?" Lien-Da felt a surge of... sadness? Or maybe it was embarrassment? She didn't know for sure, but ignored it ploughed on. "I... I've experienced the Soultouch with him, Julie-Su." Now her half-sister's looked surprised and her eyes widened slightly. She straightened her head up and said, "Well, that sort of helps explain you two as a couple. You are destined to be the soulmate of a god? That's just... difficult to comprehend."

"I know, but it is true. I... I love him, Julie-Su. I love him like no other person in my life." She turned briefly again to her partner, and smiled at him affectionately. He returned the smile, and then she turned back to Julie-Su and went on "He accepted my faults and forgave my wrongs, and then he helped to cleanse away the evil side of me that was what caused me to do the things wrong that I did." Julie-Su's expression went back to bitter cynical, and she crossed her arms as she said, "Somehow I don't think you pulled me aside from the battle just to confess to me your love for Bionics." Lien-Da paused, and then she sighed and closed her eyes before nodding sadly. There was no more use dancing around the inevitable. She opened her eyes and stared with misery-laden eyes at her younger stepsister and responded, "No, I didn't."

She breathed in deeply, but quietly, and then continued. "Because he helped me deal with the evil in my mind and heart and soul, he taught me to regret the misdeeds I have committed in my life, not to covet them. I... I regret, above all, the sins I have committed against you and our family." Julie-Su's face displayed a hint of surprise, but also of slight anger, but she remained silent and so Lien-Da had to go on. "I want to say to you... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the pain I have ever caused you in your life. I'm sorry that I never gave you any attention when you were a child, and that I... I killed Luger and Mari-Su and-" Julie-Su cut her stepsister off as her face became a mask of fury. "Hold on, _you_ killed them?" Lien-Da didn't answer at first, as she took in the mistake she had made.

She had used the implanted chip in Julie-Su's mind when she was younger and in the Dark Legion to blank her mind twice, but even after she had relearned most of the truth, some bits of history she didn't know. She obviously hadn't known that Lien-Da had been the one to kill both their father and their stepmother. The fact Lien-Da had just admitted it was going to be something new to Julie-Su. Lien-Da was going to endure her sister's wrath now, she knew it, but right now she didn't try to avoid it. "Yes, I'm the one who killed them both. I wanted to kill Mari-Su because of a desire for revenge on Luger, and I killed him afterwards because I wanted power in the Legion along with Kragok. I'm sorry, sister."

Julie-Su continued to stare at her in barely controlled rage. Her breathing became heavy and she slightly bared her teeth. Lien-Da felt a wave of painful sorrow as she knew what was about to happen next. Julie-Su, in an instant, snapped. She punched Lien-Da full in the face with her left fist, and floored her. Lien-Da was still conscious though, and her sister jumped on top of her to stop her moving. Julie-Su snatched her double-barrelled Proton Gun from her belt and held it to Lien-Da's forehead. She stopped there as tears of unbridled hatred welled up in her eyes. She still breathed forcedly, and hissed menacingly, "Don't you dare call me that! You don't deserve to call me your sister. You killed my mother and father in cold blood! You heartless bitch! Do you know how much pain you've caused me, what I've had to live with and think about how it could have happened? You deprived me of my biological parents and you destroyed my memory of my adoptive parents. You barely acknowledged me as a sibling even when I found out again. You have burned away my happiness in life too many times now!" She pressed the barrels of the gun into Lien-Da's forehead, and Lien-Da felt her own tears of sadness begin to form. Out of nowhere, Bionics swooped to loom beside them both and, with a resounding _click_, cocked his Desert Eagle and had it pointed at Julie-Su's head.

The distraught Echidna turned slightly to acknowledge Bionics' presence and hissed at him with equal anger. "Back off, Bionics." Bionics did not shift one jot, but instead replied with a menacing voice of his own. "Get off of Lien-Da right now. She is still your sister." Julie-Su also did not move, she said, "This... this monster murdered my parents, her father and stepmother. I don't care if you two are supposed to be bonded. I can't let her get away with this. Just back off, machine god, this is my duty!" She turned back to Lien-Da, who now had the tears going down her cheeks, and she said "I have to see justice done. Luger and Mari-Su would want this. They would want me to avenge them."

Lien-Da felt as low as could be as she whispered quietly, "No, Julie-Su, they wouldn't. They don't. I met them, Julie-Su, Bionics allowed me to meet Luger and Mari-Su and even Merin-Da. They forgave me of what I did. They would want you to do the same, my sister."

"Liar!" Julie-Su screamed, pointed her gun slightly away from Lien-Da and fired it into the ground, leaving a smoking crater. Bionics suddenly leapt at her, forcing her off of Lien-Da and rolling her onto the ground. As Lien-Da got up she saw Julie-Su shove Bionics off of her and snatch up her Proton Gun. Lien-Da just stood there as Julie-Su had the gun pointed back at her. Bionics raised his gun again, but Julie-Su, blinded by rage, swung the gun to him and shouted "Back off! This is for me to deal with!" She pointed the gun back at Lien-Da and spat out the words "justice is done!" She fired the gun.

The white-yellow bolts flew though the air with a crack and a whistle and struck Lien-Da in the chest. It was blocked by the power armour's in-built energy shields. There was a painfully long pause after that. The scene had become a motionless tableau. Even the others and Scourge's army had turned to see what the noises and screaming was about. After a while Julie-Su started up again, shook her head and said, "No, no, no, no, no! Why can't I have my vengeance on you? Why am I denied my retribution on you? Why? Why!" She fired twice more, but this had no more effect than the first shot. Julie-Su just gave a scream of rage, slumped to her knees, dropped her Proton Gun and held her face in her hands.

Lien-Da slowly went up to her anguished sister and knelt beside her. When she gently put her hand on Julie-Su's shoulder, the latter violently shook her off. She whispered through her sobs, "Why? Why is it that I can't avenge their death? Isn't this what they want? Are they..." she looked now at her half-sister with red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes and her voice cracked as she said, "Are you right? Did you see them all, Lien-Da, and did they really forgive you?" Lien-Da helped Julie-Su onto her feet and then held her in a familial embrace. Her sister just sobbed into her shoulder, and she herself felt more and more tears flow as she replied, "Yes. I would never to you, my beloved sister. You're... you're almost all I have left of my family!" She started weeping as well as her emotional pain overwhelmed her. She and her sister just stood, hugged tight and they sobbed their dejected hearts out as Bionics simply watched on.

Eventually the stepsisters pulled apart at looked at each other in a new light for the first time in just over a decade. There was caring in both their eyes. Even with the sadness they still felt, there was now a new sense of kindred love. Julie-Su sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes as she said, "I... I forgive you, Lien-Da. You're right about our parents, they would want me to forgive you. So... so now I do too." She turned to Bionics now and asked him tentatively, "After this, can I... can I go and see..."

"Yes," Bionics said without any fuss. Julie-Su nodded and Lien-Da felt a new surge of happiness course though her systems. She hadn't expected her normally quite level-headed sister to snap like that, but even afterwards she still was a caring individual and was ready to make amends with her for now. She also wiped the tears from her eyes and then they both turned to Bionics. He nodded and smiled his loving smile. Lien-Da smiled back and then cleared her throat quietly. She said "Well, that's our little family feud over. Now we should get back to the reason we came here in the first place." The man she loved nodded again and the smile faded from his features. "Yes, let's go," he replied, and walked off in the direction of Scourge's army, and all those assembled against him, without another spoken word. Lien-Da and Julie-Su looked at each other again, smiled somewhat happily, then chased quickly after him.

* * *

Bionics reached the Freedom Fighters quickly and began to gently push through them all. He was now about to sort out this madness, no matter what might occur. He took in the faces of those he passed if he knew them. Amy, Bunnie, Antoine, and Tails were all the ones he felt recognition for as he passed them silently. Finally, he reached the front, where Sally, Sonic, Dimitri and Rosy were waiting for him one the one side. Scourge, Miles, and two other unknown figures stood waiting on the other side in front of their army. There was what he assumed was the Moebian version of Antoine, who wore a much more ornate military dress uniform, had a scar by his left eye, and an eye patch over his right.

Standing next to Scourge was a deep scarlet female Fox with a black sleeveless vest, long black boots with metallic caps on the ends, long-sleeve mitts and a bright yellow bow in her hair. There were other details about her, but Bionics decided that, right now, minute details were not important. He waited until Lien-Da had walked to his side, but as she did so a look of surprise passed over all of Scourge's comrades as well as Scourge himself. Bionics knew that they had believed the Dark Legion destroyed, so seeing Lien-Da would prove them all wrong. They hadn't yet recognised Dimitri, but now a few of them took a second glance at the upgraded Echidna and understanding dawned. Scourge looked now at Bionics with a hint of anger.

"So, you did save the Dark Legion after all, Bionics. Nice try in keeping it from me for so long, but there was no point to any of it. You failed to use their secrecy to your full potential. Such a shame, you could have used them so effectively." As he said this final sentence a sneer formed on his face, revealing the sharp fangs beneath. Bionics' appearance, despite becoming as cold as was physically expressible, did not change at this. He said bitterly, "I do not use my allies, Scourge. I work with them to aid them as they aid me." He looked around at the army assembled by his old friend, then returned his gaze to the latter and went on, "What is this all about, Scourge, hmm? You assemble an army, but you don't move on New Mobotropolis or set up defences or anything tactically viable. What is the purpose of all this?"

Scourge's evil smile remained as he slowly said, malice saturating every single word, "I've had enough of your getting in the way of my plans, Bionics. I gave you a chance not to become involved in what's not your business. You decided to play the saint and do this, and now I will show you the price for your lack of foresight." Bionics still did not react, and retorted wistfully, "I gave _you_ the chance to end this peacefully, Scourge, and_ you_ were the one to reject the painless way out. What you and your soldiers have been doing on this planet is licentious and callous, going beyond anything I imagined possible." He looked into Scourge's cobalt eyes and, seeing the battle lust there, said, "If you want a fight then I am not the one you shall have it with. You and Sonic are the ones who should fight."

Hah, Sonic? As far as I'm concerned he can take a back seat!" Scourge seemed a little wild as he said this. "You are my main concern now, Bionics. You were my friend, but now you're in the way. You will not move yourself, so I'll have to do it for you. I'm going to Plan B now." The green Hedgehog reached out to Miles, who passed over what looked like a technologically advanced walkie-talkie. Scourge spoke his next words almost candidly. "Miles was able to get some quite useful info on our last attack. What energy rating your Spire's shields have, what could pass through them, stuff like that. It was all very valuable." Scourge raised the walkie-talkie to his mouth and gave a command. "Show yourselves and start the bombardment." There was a clear reply of, "Yes, your Highness," from the other end and then Scourge lowered the walkie-talkie with a smile. All the others looked at the sky above them, expecting to see Scourge's sky fleet appear out of nowhere to wipe them all out. No such sky fleet emerged.

Bionics, however, knew exactly what was about to happen. He could just sense it, like it was a kind of prescience that linked him to events concerning what he knew was about to be attacked. Also, Scourge's light-hearted banter had been nothing if not an obvious hint as to what was going to be done. He waited for the inevitable, and then felt a little mental shockwave as he had the sensation of something terrible happening. He fell to his knees and clutched his head with his right hand, and then Lien-Da cried out behind him "Bionics! Are you okay?" He felt the strange sensation continue unrelentingly as he stood back up and said, gravely, "His fleet is bombarding my Spire. I can feel its shields being pounded without mercy." Bionics looked at Scourge, who stood now with a serious look on his face, and he said, "That's why you called us out here, so I wouldn't be there to stop you from doing anything about your attack."

"Oh, no, nothing that elaborate, Bionics. I merely wanted you out here to see the look on your face when you realised what was going on." Scourge said it in a way which suggested that, despite the words used, he didn't take any enjoyment in it. He walked up right in front of Bionics now and almost whispered to him. "I will not yet destroy your precious Spire. I am not completely without mercy. I still know that you were a friend of mine. If you leave this fight, or even join me, then I will spare your Spire and you. If you reject me then you and your forces, including the Dark Legion, will be destroyed. I will not waver in ending you, Bionics."

Bionics looked at Scourge and, sure enough, felt the bombardment end just as his beloved Spire's shields collapsed. It was perhaps the first time in a long time that such a thing had happened. He looked into Scourge's eyes once again and he decided that he was going to prove to this misguided soul just what he was really capable of. Without any consultation, he said quickly, "fine," and suddenly his Desert Eagle was raised and pointed at Scourge's chest. A look of anger and surprise crossed Scourge's face. The Fox made a small start as though desperate to rush to the king's side and at first it looked like everything would kick off there and then. Bionics then flipped his custom pistol in his hand so that he was holding out the grip to Scourge.

"If you will not hesitate to end me, then take your opportunity now. I'm standing right here." As he finished saying this he concentrated and out of nowhere his shields appeared and dissipated, literally like a bubble coming out from nothing and then popping an instant later. He continued, utterly without jest, "I am vulnerable, and I will not fight back. This is your best chance to get me out of the way, Scourge. Take it, or else show me that you are not yet utterly lost to me." Scourge was still and silent for the longest of short moments. He appeared to be trying to take in everything playing out before his eyes. He reached out and snatched the pistol from Bionics' outstretched hand and slowly raised it between the deity's eyes.

Bionics did not so much as blink as he started down the barrel of his own pistol. He took in the polygonal rifling inside, and could see clearly the shaped bullet waiting dormant in the firing chamber. He wondered if this would be the last thing he ever saw in his material life, and decided it would be better if it was slightly different. He shifted his gaze to look into Scourge's looked determined, but had a spark of pain there as well. He stood motionless again for 5 seconds, and then Bionics saw the Desert Eagle's once perfectly steady position begin to tremble. Scourge tried to point the gun straighter, and invigorate himself into pulling that oh-so-tempting trigger, but even then he failed to make good on it. His expression became more and more pained with every passing second. The pistol's barrel shook more and more violently as the emerald Hedgehog could not bring himself to kill his old buddy.

Bionics closed his eyes and he though he saw, imprinted on his mind's vision of things, Lien-Da's beautiful and perfect eyes. He gloried in this mental image and waited in the silence. Then he heard the violent roar of a gunshot, but did not feel death's cold embrace consume him. He opened his eyes to see Scourge standing there, his eyes brimming with tears of sadness, the pistol's barrel smoking where he had fired it into the ground next to the god. There was another pause, in which Bionics looked at Scourge's face as it became angrier. He tossed the gun to the ground, fell to his knees, held his head in his hands and screamed in agonisingly miserable rage.

Bionics did not reach down or comfort Scourge in any way. He just stood over the destitute young king in cold and bitter triumph. Scourge let out a second howl of personal anguish and then raised his head from his hands to stare with hatred at his old friend. He hissed, "Aurora _damn_ you, Bionics. Damn you to hell! I can't do it, I can't end you. I still see you as that kind guy who made me really happy for a month seven years ago. Why must it be you fighting me now, why didn't your damn master choose another?" Bionics' face was set in stone, and he did not reply to this question. Instead he said, quietly and softly, "Call off your sky fleet, Scourge."

Scourge's expression was thunderous. It was as if he had been reduced back to that 7 year old child again, dependant and trusting of his best buddy. He had been humiliated and reduced to nothing, and Bionics hadn't even deliberately put him down once. He stood up slowly, and then raised the futuristic walkie-talkie to his mouth and said slowly, "Pull back now, no exceptions." There was a surprised pause, but then they heard, "...yes, your Highness," arrive through the walkie-talkie with equal confusion. Bionics reached out his hand to his Desert Eagle and it flew into his hand. He holstered it and then his shields reactivated in a bubble flash.

They now stared at each other for the longest time, all of them. Some expressions were indifferent, some were determined, some were seething with hatred, some were cold and devoid of compassion. Bionics' own cold stare developed a sad touch as Scourge looked on with anger. He could tell that this was beginning to drive Scourge to the point of madness, not literally, but his soul and resolve was being tested. He hated Bionics, but he still loved him. He was his enemy and yet also his dear past friend. Bionics could only bring himself to feel sad love for his former friend. This silence and lack of any atmosphere or movement between them all lasted what felt like an ice age.

Bionics then broke the spell and said, "So, what happens now, Scourge?" The tyrant of Moebius's mouth twitched, and his hands clenched into fists. He then stopped himself, calmed down and smiled in a wry little way. He huffed and said, "I may not be able to kill you, Bionics, but I'll still fight you. I've been training how to swordfight, so you can guess how we will do this. I'll even be honourable, just to prove I can be. No cheating, no dirty tricks, just a simple duel." He reached out to his side, and the anti-Antoine held out an ornate handled sabre in a scabbard for his king. Scourge drew the sword, and Bionics saw the blade itself had serrations on the bottom nearer the hilt.

Scourge swung the sword experimentally, and then held it out pointed at Bionics. The machine god did not flinch or react. He simply reached behind him and drew out a solitary energy katana hilt. He activated the blade and allowed it to switch to its solid light mode. In a flash his power armour and cloak disappeared and in their place was the jacket, shirt, leather glove, jeans, and shoes and, to a lesser degree, socks that he had met Scourge for the first time in. He saw a slight facial reaction from Scourge at this, but his blade remained firmly pointed at Bionics, who now slowly met Scourge's blade and said, quietly, "No killing. We will fight this as first blood to be drawn from the torso. He who does so first wins."

* * *

Behind Bionics, Lien-Da suddenly felt, for the second time in these events, that strange tingling sensation of familiarity over what was about to happen. In that moment, she worked it out without any problem. She knew that another scene was about to play out from the fire in her bedroom. This was the scene of two figures sword duelling. She did wonder why the events in the fire were not in chronological order, but thought that this was not really that important. All that mattered was that each of these events was starting to come true, and Lien-Da felt that they would now come thick and fast, that somehow she knew they were in the final days of this campaign. She wondered how much better or worse it would get. She regained her concentration and watched the sword duel slowly unfold in front of her.

* * *

Scourge scraped his sword blade along Bionics' slowly, creating a slight energetic noise as he did so. He suddenly leapt forward and swept his blade down, aiming at Bionics' head. Bionics brought his blade up in a two handed grip and blocked the strike. Scourge swung his blade around quickly to the left side. It turned out that he was fast with his hands as well as his feet. Bionics brought his blade over his left shoulder to perform a close-cut block, before swinging the katana around to Scourge's left. The king blocked with equal skill and made a forward thrust in response. Bionics parried the stab deftly and took a step back. He brought the katana up to a defensive stance and let Scourge make another dextrous swipe at him. He blocked, and his blade briefly locked into the teeth-like serrations of Scourge's sabre. Scourge spun his weapon around powerfully and tried to force the weapon from Bionics' hand. Bionics gripped the hilt of his katana so tightly that Scourge was stopped short by the strength of his opponent's mechanical arm and as Bionics stepped back he was forced off-balance and had to recompose himself. Another minute of solid fighting eventually culminated in Scourge now adding a touch of his other combat skills to his attacks, and he went for a tricky spin dash with the blade out to one side like a Boadicea. Bionics made a duck under it that would cause limbo-champions to grimace, then swung his blade up and caught Scourge's outstretched one. Scourge was spun around, but he regained himself in mid-swing. As he came around, so did his fist, and he didn't stop swinging around either. The fist was aimed at Bionics' head, but he flinched backwards to avoid it. This was the perfect distraction. Before Bionics could quite get his bearings Scourge was already swinging his semi-jagged sabre at Bionics' side. Bionics tried to block, but Scourge's blow was too strong. The katana stopped most of the blade, but a part of the smooth, sharp edge of the sabre reached Bionics torso, tore through the jacket and shirt and pricked at the flesh beneath. Bionics only slightly winced at the pain, but felt some of his blood begin to flow out. He looked down to see a very small glowing stain soak into his jacket, and a few droplets of his deific ichor were caught on the tip of Scourge's sword. Bionics pulled away, lowered his katana and disengaged it. Scourge gave a twitch of a smile, but then looked at the golden blood on his sword and frowned. He hadn't known about Bionics' special blood. Nevertheless, Bionics healed his wound and repaired his clothing, removing the stain in the process, bowed his head in submission. "You win, Scourge, fair and square."

Scourge smiled, and Bionics could swear that a part of that smile was actually the smile of that innocent child he had met ten years ago. Scourge said, "Well, if I can beat you at that, I reckon I can do it again. We'll see how things turn out, eh, Bionics?" Bionics frowned, but nodded as well and replied, "Indeed, we shall see." Scourge walked slowly back into his own ranks, while Bionics turned around and walked back into the ranks of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix and said, apologetically, "I'm sorry about dragging you all the way out here for-" He heard a noise behind him which sounded suspiciously like two dozen or so automatic rifles being cocked. He spun around to see not Scourge, but the anti-Antoine, giving the order to aim. His instincts kicked in and as the coyote said, "fire!" with a harsh approximation of Antoine's French accent, Bionics raised his hands in front of him and projected a sudden energy shield in front of them all. Bullets impacted and were disintegrated by the energy barrier, and Bionics felt a slight struggle as he tried to maintain the shields without any source of previous shields or Creator's Diamond. "Wait, stop! Cease fire! I order you to cease fire!" Scourge's shouted words rose above the din and suddenly the gunfire was silenced. Bionics lowered the shield and slouched with fatigue.

Scourge came back out of the soldiers and looked at anti-Antoine with a thunderous expression. He hissed coldly, "Never open fire on a battlefield that I am on without my consent. You got that straight, Patch?" Anti-Antoine, or Patch, gave a slight look of fear on his face, and it seemed his hand twitched as though he wanted to reach for something. Bionics knew that it was most likely his eye patch. That got to the god in a way. Had Scourge torn out Patch's eye? The idea made Bionics feel a little ill. Patch regained his cool composed and replied, "_O__ui,_ my king." Scourge still gave his subordinate a cold stare, and then looked at Bionics with what might have taken for sympathy in someone like Scourge's face. He turned and once again walked into his ranks, now with all his comrades in toe.

Bionics now turned back with a drained look on his face and said, "Well, we're done. Again, I'm sorry for dragging you all out here unnecessarily, but it had its uses. My Guardians will take you all home now. Julie-Su, if you want to see your parents, you should come with us now. The rest of you, good luck." They all nodded at him. The scarlet male Echidna walked up beside Julie-Su and said with a deep, gruff voice "I'm going with her, machine god. I'm her partner and besides, I have someone I want to talk to."

Bionics nodded in understanding and beckoned them over. The others walked with a quiet and sober air about them to the Guardian transports, and soon they were away. Dimitri, Lien-Da, Rosy, Julie-Su, her partner and Bionics gathered together away from Scourge's army. Bionics himself took one last look at the slowly departing forces and caught a glimpse of Scourge. They met eyes for the shortest of time spans, and then they were separated from sight. With that, he turned back to his cohorts and he translocated them all to the Spire's roof in a light filled instant.

* * *

Author's notes: A nice long chapter there for you, and with plenty to think about, I hope. Now, I'm going to have a bit of a rant now, so bear with me. I'm a little peeved that 'Aris Hence' has recently started writing a story about the Archie comics series which also involves Lien-Da. This in itself is not what annoys me, and I send all the best luck to Aris Hence for the project. What gets on my nerves is that in two chapters, he/she had received no less than ten reviews! While I'm happy to hear from all of you who have reviewed my work, and the feedback you give me is wonderful, I can't help but feel this is a little unfair. So I would implore once again that other people besides the established 'regular' reviewers; if you read this, please leave a review! It will help boost my confidence to sky-high levels to hear from some more people. Anyway, enough of that, back to proper notes. I decided to post this chapter a little earlier simply because I'm starting to lose my focus, and I don't want to deprive you of the story. In regards to Lien-Da wiping Julie-Su's memory, I never did discover, despite inhuman scrutiny, whether Julie did actually find out who killed her parents. The excuse I'll use if otherwise is that the timeline has made small changes thanks to Bionics' meddling. Also, I know Scourge isn't the sort to engage in _anything _honourable, but then it is a duel between old friends. Even Scourge must have one spark of honour in his black heart. Next time... *sigh*, alright folks, next one's the big one. Bionics and Lien-Da finally open up their full affection for each other, and then they both decide to join in 'Sacred and Profane Love'. Till next time, children...


	21. Chapter 19: Sacred and Profane Love

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are copyright of either Sega, Archie comics or Ken Penders. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course. The song 'Any Other Name' is copyright of Thomas Newman. I do not own that either.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Sacred and Profane Love**

When they arrived on the roof of the Spire, It was a cloudless, late afternoon sky that greeted them. Lien-Da was expecting to feel a tinge of cold up this high, but instead it was pleasant warmth that she felt against her fur and skin. She saw Rosy go up to Bionics with a half-concerned, half-soppy look and said, "Aww, Scourgey was mean to you, Bionics. Are you feeling okay now?" Bionics, who was still wearing his casual clothes, smiled a little wryly and replied, "Yes, I'm fine, Rosy. Thank you for your concern. Do you want to smash some more Scourgeys?" Rosy shook her head calmly and said, "No thanks, I want to have a rest. I'll go to my bedroom for a while. Bye-bye!" She skipped off merrily with her hammer leant across her shoulder.

Julie-Su looked at Bionics as well and said, with a frown of deep unease and said, "She is out of her mind." Bionics nodded stiffly and said, "Yes, but in a good way. Anyway, I'll show you the chamber where you can talk to your family, both of you. Um, what is your name by the way?" This second question was directed at Julie-Su's partner, who simply replied, "Knuckles." Bionics gave a strange nod to Knuckles right as he slowly blinked at the same time. Lien-Da watched Bionics lead her sister and Knuckles to a lift and soon they had gone. Dimitri also went on without saying a word to her, and soon she was on her own on top of the Spire. She walked up to Bionics' throne and, after a brief pause and a twinge of guilty trepidation, sat down on it.

She began to think about the events that had just played out. She had been expecting a battle, a fight, bloodshed and even death out there! Scourge had even been in a position to destroy Bionics' Spire. He could have ended the threat there and then. Somehow, Bionics had managed to use a twisted and reverse form of diplomacy and psychology to prevent this from happening. He had given Scourge the chance to personally execute him in cold blood, and his old friend had been unable to take the burden of guilt that would have followed. The sword duel was an interesting touch that she hadn't expected, even with the sensation of awareness she had felt about it. They had engaged in an honourable duel and Scourge had won. It seemed at first glance to have no impact, but somehow, the show of honour had briefly rubbed off on Scourge in that he had commanded Patch to cease firing on them.

She didn't know how Bionics was able to do such mad and suicidal things in his life that took the form of diplomacy and still be alive today, but somehow he did. He was a god; he could be anything he needed to be in life. She had now grown accustomed to his sudden and unexpected shifts in emotions, just like he had said she would. She couldn't fully understand him, even now, but he did fascinate her, and she did love him. She found that she really couldn't stop thinking about him. She wanted something from him, or at least that's what she felt inside. She would find out pretty soon, she knew, but right now she decided it would be good just to have a quick lie down like Rosy.

First, she went to go and check on Julie-Su in the Chamber of the Dead, she just wanted to see her sister was okay when she was done. Julie-Su did have Knuckles as her partner of course, but she still felt it was a part of her business. She took the lift to the Chamber of the Dead, and when she got out it was to see only Bionics and Knuckles there. Julie-Su was already in the chamber talking to Mari-Su and possibly Luger. She looked between the two men, who both acknowledged her appearance with either a nod or a quick, single wave. After another minute or so of waiting, Julie-Su finally emerged with tears in her eyes, but a strange happy and sad expression. She walked up to and embraced Knuckles for comfort, as she did so she looked at Lien-Da, smiled and nodded.

Knuckles then went into the Chamber of the Dead, and he didn't come out for a good 5 minutes. When he did come out again, he too had a tear of sadness in his eyes. Lien-Da recalled that Knuckles had been the violent demigod Enerjak just a fortnight or so before the war had started up. It had taken the ultimate sacrifice from his father, Locke, of giving his life to bring him back from that state of destruction and power. It had devastated Knuckles to live with his father's death, and even after all this time he had still seemed to be a bit different from before. Now, he had had the chance to talk with his father and seek his forgiveness for what had happened. Knuckles went up to Julie-Su slowly, and then they shared a second comforting embrace. They both now looked at Bionics, who smiled sympathetically and said to them, "Now I will take you both to wherever you so desire to go.

Knuckles replied quickly, "Angel Island. I have my duty to guard the Master Emerald there." Julie-Su nodded to agree with her partner, and then Bionics walked over to the pair of them. Julie-Su and Lien-Da shared one last look at each other as sisters, and then in a flash of cyan Bionics had whisked the former and Knuckles all the way to Angel Island. Lien-Da was once again by herself. She walked out to the lifts and went down to the simulator chambers. She walked out into the various rooms and located the 'mood room' that she had talked Bionics in 2 days ago, and where she had encountered that strange music. She went in and stood in the blank chamber.

She wondered how you were able to activate it all, but then it was obvious. Like pretty much everything else involving these sorts of things, it was activated via the mind and thoughts. She paused as she thought of something to be a background and then concentrated on that mental image. As she thought hard about the image it suddenly began to materialise around her. She was standing on a grass covered cliff somewhere along a coastline. She was surprised as she could feel the wind blowing on her face. She breathed in and could taste and smell the sea breeze. She reached down, removed one gauntlet, and felt at the grass beneath her. Each individual blade of grass was picked up her sense of touch, and as she ran her hand smoothly across it, she felt it tickle her as she swept over.

She put her gauntlet back on and lay back on the ground. She wondered about music in this place. She thought about how she was going to activate music, and by her thoughts a sudden holographic list appeared horizontally in front of her face. She spun through the incredibly long listings and selected a track at random. The name made it sound interesting enough; 'Any Other Name'. She heard the strange warble of the introductory strain of the music and she carefully lay back in the grass with her head in her hands. As the song reached a soothing and somehow sad sounding piano piece, she closed her eyes and just breathed in slowly. She was suddenly in utter peace with the music and the surrounding. She just heard the sound of the waves gently breaking on the rocks well below her, and she smiled at the amazing calm of this place.

After just spending her time waiting for the song to end, she opened her eyes and looked up at the cloudless blue sky. She now took in the fact that she felt the sunlight's warm rays on her face. Here, all her senses seemed to be heightened with everything she saw, felt, smelled, and tasted. It was no wonder Bionics often used this room. Just to have the luxury of getting away from it all, even for the shortest spans of time, was glorious. She took in one last, full breath of air, then exhaled and caused the image around her to slowly fall apart. She was back in the mood room proper now, and she soon walked out to the lifts. She had the inkling that dinner would shortly be served, so first she went to her room her freshen up. After that she went down to the dining hall and discovered that her inkling had been absolutely correct. Members of the Dark Legion were already arriving and Bionics himself had returned from delivering Knuckles and Julie-Su and was now sat, as always, at the head of the table. He had now returned to wearing his iconic power armour.

She took her seat on his right and smiled at him as they met eyes. He returned the smile and then she reached slightly over and put her hand on top of his. They held this position for a moment, and then they broke off as Dimitri also reached his seat on Bionics' left. Lien-Da didn't know why it was at that moment she felt it, but she felt the sudden urge to get her desire of taking command of the Dark Legion to her superior. She gave a look to Bionics at this point. The thing about Bionics was that he was very good at reading her face, and all it took was that look for him to realise what she wanted.

He nodded at her, and then they both turned to look at Dimitri. He himself looked between the pair of them and then said slowly, "...Yes?" Lien-Da felt as though a balloon of doubt was inflating rapidly in her stomach, but now she knew she wanted to get it out of the way, otherwise it would never go away. She built up her internal courage, gave an external sigh and began. "Dimitri, me and Bionics have been having some talks recently, and we think that there should be some changes within the Dark Legion and the Dark Alliance. We both think that... we both think that I should take over as Grandmaster of the Legion, and that you should step down."

There was a sudden and all-consuming silence. All the members of the Dark Legion, all Echidnas of various genders and ages and similar colours, had turned their heads at this comment and were now listening intently. Dimitri had not yet reacted to Lien-Da's statement. He still looked straight at her, as he very carefully thought over what he had just heard. He turned slowly and looked at Bionics, and then around to look down the long table at the rest of the Legion, whose faces began to display emotions from curiosity to concern. He then turned back to his great-great-granddaughter and gave her what could only be described as 'a look'.

He spoke slowly as he composed his thought out reply. "I see. I am a little surprised by this, you know." He turned to look at Bionics, who just stared back at him with his head downturned and his fingers forming a steeple. Dimitri said to him, "You agree with Lien-Da on this affair, do you?" Bionics merely nodded as the fire behind him gave him an unsettling outline. It made the machine god appear to be some terrible villain born from hell, he looked grim faced and scheming in posture. It was thoroughly intimidating. Dimitri, however, was not put off by the unintentional aura of dread Bionics gave off, and instead turned back to his descendant. The living metal of his face allowed expression, and at the moment it was suitably disdainful.

"I know that you have changed over these past few days, Bionics has remade you into something beyond any recognition. You now understand the true values and virtues of being a strong leader, Lien-Da, but even so there is still much about leadership you do not comprehend. You still have yet to master the fine art of diplomacy. You are just not ready yet to be Grandmaster." Lien-Da did her best not to react badly to this. She had expected Dimitri to say something along these lines anyway. She knew that she wasn't exactly a diplomat, but even so they didn't need diplomacy at this time; they needed action. Also, Bionics and Dimitri were fine diplomats as it was. She didn't need to be one in order to become Grandmaster of the Legion.

She voiced this opinion out loud, but even so Dimitri still shook his head and continued, "I'm sorry, but I will not yet step down. You are almost ready, but only almost. Until I deem it right, you will remain as Kommissar." Lien-Da felt a twinge of anger at this, but she did her best to stifle it. She was treating her negative emotions like a drug; she wasn't going to let it start on her or she would be consumed by it. She turned to Bionics for assistance, and he then turned sharply to Dimitri and said, "You are a scientist, Dimitri, not a general. Right now the Dark Legion needs a strong military leader to help it throughout these trials. I have no say in the politics of the Legion, but I would hope my advice to at least be worth taking on board in our coalition."

Dimitri nodded sharply in return and said, with the faintest tinge of menace to his voice, "You're right, I will take on your advice, but you do not have any say in Legion politics. Despite what you both think, my decision still stands. I am sorry, but that is what I believe right." Lien-Da tried harder and harder to suppress the growing anger and resentment in her soul. Dimitri was being so damn stubborn! He wouldn't see the sense of what they were proposing here. He was just not up to dealing with the requirements of this war. He was no soldier, and he hadn't felt the pain she had felt, or the heat, or the occasional blood. She felt like she wanted to lash out, and she didn't know how to contain it much longer. Bionics must have noticed this, because he gently reached over and touched her hand, which was showing signs of curling into a fist.

She felt her anger subside enough to bring it under control. She didn't feel it dissipate completely, but it was enough to be content with for now. She inhaled deeply, and then she looked at Bionics, who nodded with satisfaction. He turned to Dimitri and said, "Alright, Dimitri. We will respect your decision, but do bear in mind what we have both said." Dimitri merely nodded, and with that the tension melted like hot wax. All the Dark Legionnaires suddenly turned back to their plates as the food arrived. They all tucked into their dinners and not another word was spoken on the matter.

* * *

A long way away, in his own wicked fortress, Scourge was sitting upon his gothic throne and reminiscing on his first contact with Bionics since him since the first day. It had been... weird. It hadn't been quite like he had expected. He had expected Bionics to either back down, or for his Spire to be destroyed and then there would have been a massive battle there. He hadn't expected Bionics to have pulled that stunt with his pistol. He had forced Scourge into submission with just a simple gesture. Bionics had torn him down from his haughty and arrogant high and plunged him down into disgrace. Scourge himself still felt a twinge of anger over that.

He had enjoyed the slight pleasure of beating Bionics in a fair duel. It had made him think, just for a moment, that fighting fairly might actually be a better way forward. He shook that thought off quickly. Hah, he was starting to think like Bionics, and right now he couldn't afford that kind of thinking. Scourge leant forward in his chair and wondered about how he was actually going to deal with Bionics should he ever have to remove him from the picture. Scourge knew that, as his old friend, he couldn't summon the resolve to finish him off. He may be able to incapacitate him, but he couldn't kill him. Scourge felt like he should be stronger than this in his mind. So what if Bionics was his friend once? It didn't change the fact that he was his enemy now.

Scourge made his decision on the matter. He decided to let his heart be hardened, and his conscience stifled. He would purge himself of such weak emotions in order to find the strength to end this stupid feud once and for all. He got up from his throne slowly and went over to his sabre, which he had placed upon a rack in front of his bed. He drew it out of its sheath in one fluid movement and swung it carefully up so that he could see his right eye reflected back at him in the metal of the blade. He would not allow any previous ties to Bionics get in the way of things now. He would sever any bonds of familiarity if that was what it took to finally finish this fight. He slowly closed his eyes for 5 seconds, then opened his eyes and sheathed the sword again.

His mind now concentrated on the attack that was set for tomorrow. He knew this was going to be the deciding battle in this war. It was going to be an attack on the heart of his original troubles. In this attack, he would snuff out the so-called 'beacon of hope' that Mobius held onto; New Mobotropolis. If he took the Republic of Acorn's capital from right under all their noses, then the Republic, its leaders and its armies would have to bow to him or face extinction. Once he had command of those forces as well as his own, he would fully be able to combat Bionics and drive him from Mobius for good. Scourge smiled maliciously as the thought of tomorrow's big battle lingered in his mind. Tomorrow... everything would be different.

* * *

Back at the Spire, dinner had just finished and Lien-Da had got up to go up to bed. She reached her room and spent an hour or two just sitting on her bed and thinking about things. Dimitri was still very much on her mind, and his refusal to step down even now did cause her a bitter sensation in her stomach. If it hadn't been for Bionics, she would have lost control. Bionics... she allowed her mind to peacefully shift to thoughts of him. He had become so much to her, he had done so much for her. He was everything she could have hoped for in life and then yet more. With his help and support, pretty much anything could be accomplished.

She trusted him, she loved him, and she would go to many lengths to please him. She was still thinking intently about him when, by the most anticipated stroke of luck, Bionics himself came through the doors. He looked a little troubled, and he said to her, "Lien-Da, I would like you come with me please." Lien-Da didn't argue with him this time. Instead she simply got up from the bed and followed him out into the corridor. Bionics led her further down the corridor to a set of extra ornamented doors at the very end of it. She realised that she had never really considered these doors before now. They were probably Bionics' own sleeping quarters that he had never used in so many decades.

She was correct. Beyond was a room as regal as her own and yet suitably larger. The log fire was to the right of the doors with the coffee table, two chairs and a door to a bathroom to the left. The bed was directly in front and up against the opposite wall. Despite the fact that he had never been in here in nearly 6 centuries, the room looked as clean and fresh as if it had been maintained every single day. The bed was utterly untouched. The sheets were still flat and faultless, the bed and duvet had no imprint in them to show signs of use. She wondered in with Bionics into this slightly new environment and sat down with him on the seats by the coffee table. He cut straight to the point. "Lien-Da, I am sorry that we were unable to convince Dimitri to step down. I feel like I should have been able to do more for you."

Lien-Da was surprised by this statement. Bionics was blaming himself for something which was beyond his control again, just like 2 days ago with the army that attacked the Spire. She quickly leant forward and replied, "Don't worry about it. It wasn't you fault. Remember what I told you about not taking the blame for things which are outside even your control." Bionics looked at her with a small smile of sympathy, and then went on to say, "Well, I feel like I should be able to do more for you anyway. I want you to be content and happy, and this just makes me feel so inadequate and angry for not getting you what you deserve."

Lien-Da was also, despite the fact she felt she should have been used to it by now, shocked by this. Bionics was trying to make her happy at the cost of perhaps even his own happiness. He wanted everything for her, and as she thought this, he said it as well, as though he could somehow read her thoughts. "I want to give you anything you want, Lien-Da, if I could move the stars themselves to make you happy then I would. I may even abandon being a god for you. Is this how we are supposed to feel when we fall in love?" She thought about this, and then said back, "Yes, we do feel like we should be able to do anything to please those we care about." Bionics smiled his warm smile at her and said, "That is good to know. I am somewhat relieved by it."

Lien-Da looked deep into his eyes and then suddenly felt that she just couldn't hold back anymore. She said, quite suddenly, "Damn it, Bionics, I want you more than anything! I want to be with you all the time. I can't get you out of my head half the time, I don't know why, but it's driving me insane! I want you. I want to be close to you, and to feel your skin and fur against my own. Please, Bionics, I want you with me now!" Bionics looked at her with a looked of mild surprise. They looked into each other's vision for a long time. Then, by an audacious turn of fate, their gazes both turned simultaneously in the direction of Bionics' unused bed. The same idea slowly seeped its way into their minds, and they looked back at each other with desire and fear racing through their hearts.

Bionics was the first to say tentatively, "... Do you... do you want to..." Lien-Da's expression was still a little pained from her outburst, and she felt compelled not to look at him as she nodded her consent. She felt a strange little tingling pulse in between her legs as the thought of it seeded itself inside her conscious mind. She looked at him once again and said, "Yes, I do... it's just that... well... I've never... I've never done this before. I don't know what it will be like." Bionics smiled with reassurance being his intention as he said, "Don't worry. I've never done this before either. I am sure it will not be too bad." Lien-Da was a little more surprised by this. "What, you've never, ever done this before at all? I thought as a god you would have done it at least once before."

Bionics frowned and said, with concern in his voice, "No, never. Gods don't just go around doing it for kicks, you know. It is a deeply committed and spiritual thing to a god if we reach this point in a relationship with our soulmate." The thought of it still played around inside Lien-Da's mental eye, and so her loins gave another tingle of longing. She was still surprised by the idea of it; a 12,000 year old virgin? If she had been feeling malicious she would have said that he had a lot of time to work off to make up for it. She didn't feel malicious, of course, what she did feel was the desire to be close to him and to share herself with him wholly. She said, still slowly, "I... will it hurt, do you know?"

Bionics shook his head and said, "You dress in an erotic bodysuit, carry a whip, and saunter around with a figure as alluring as what you have, and yet you're worried about actually doing this?" When Lien-Da gave him a pained look, he sighed and went on to say, "I am reliably informed by gods who have made their bonds and done this that it does not hurt as much as it would with two mortals. It is one of the most pleasurable experiences of their whole life. Given the lifespan of a god, that is quite a claim." Lien-Da wanted to tell him that saying stuff like that so openly only made it more uncomfortable for her, but she didn't want to squander the moment.

Bionics continued to reassure her, "If it does hurt you at all, just tell me and I will stop. I don't want to ever hurt you, Lien-Da." She felt a third tingle and now a throb from between her legs, the sensation being much more noticeable and insistent than previously. Her body desperately wanted him, and so did she, but even so she was going to be nervous about her first time. Bionics stood up with a strange degree of finality, and Lien-Da did the same, quite caught up in the moment. She walked up until she was in close proximity to him, and for a painfully long while they just stood and looked at each other.

_(Warning: The following paragraphs contain scenes of a sexually mature nature. While mostly non-explicit, discretion is advised to younger readers.)_

Then Bionics snapped his fingers, and music began to pulse out of nowhere, as though the room itself were the speakers. As the song played Bionics walked up to Lien-Da and placed his right arm around her waist and his left behind her head. She felt a strange tingling inside her. She paused, and then held onto him in return. "What is this song?"

"It really doesn't matter, Lien-Da. Just go with the moment. I've always enjoyed this song, but I enjoy it more than ever now, because it makes me think of you."

"Are you... are you sure you really want to do this?" Bionics and she were still locked in their intimate embrace. Their eyes met and showed that both felt the same way towards one another, when the words started up. Lien-Da suddenly sensed it; that sense of déjà vu that she had felt before that meant a scene she had witnessed in the fire all those days ago was about to play out, and she knew exactly which one it was.

Bionics stared into her eyes a moment longer, then suddenly his head moved forward and he pressed his lips firmly against hers. She had tensed herself for it, but even so she felt her resolve crumble at his advance. She felt her emotions overwhelm her and then dissolve into uncomplicated love.

That love was the catalyst for her. Suddenly all the trivial concerns and nerves that she held onto in her soul at that time, all of it was completely and utterly cleansed away by him. In that moment she felt insubstantial, and without physical weight. In the end she gave in to him and joined him in earnest.

As their kiss continued their lips parted for one another and they let their tongues explore each other's mouths, searching every space available, savouring each other's taste and finding great sensual enjoyment in it. Lien-Da found Bionics' mouth to feel unnaturally fresh and clean, and she loved it. They squeezed their bodies closer together as they continued. Then gradually they moved away from each other and breathed heavily.

"How could it be otherwise, after all this?" Bionics said as his breathing regulated.

Lien-Da felt exhilarated; she was fired up and felt a primal hunger for more, more of him, more of his love, more of his taste in her mouth. She could not deny the simple truth anymore; she yearned for him and he yearned for her back. She knew that there was a choice to be made here and now, a choice about how she would react, a choice between duty and love, but she felt the choice was always destined to be obvious. As the fires of passion and desire coursed through her body and the music passed through the chorus lyrics, she made her choice:

"Don't stop there," she said seductively, a suggestive smile forming on her lips. Bionics shared the smile and they both started kissing again as they half-led, half-wrestled each other towards the pulled apart and Lien-Da started to try and take her power armour off. Bionics snapped his fingers a second time and all of his armour and clothing disappeared in a blur.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Lien-Da cried out playfully. Bionics snapped his fingers a third time and then her armour and clothing disappeared as well. Bionics smiled as the second verse of the song played its course, she quickly took in his suitably muscular form, grinned and pushed him down onto the bed. He got under the duvet, and then she climbed in and did the same.

Lien-Da, aware of where this would lead them both, slowly allowed her natural modesty patches to recede and thus exposed her most intimate areas to him. He did the same, and his slowly erecting manhood appeared between his muscled thighs.

As the second pre-chorus lyrics started they pressed their naked bodies back against each other, enjoying each other's warmth, and fell once more to kissing. Once again both their tongues tackled and fought for superiority over one another. Once more they could taste one another's sweetness in pure bliss. The second chorus of the song started up, and as it did, Bionics paused and whispered the words of the first two lines to her as well. He then moved his head down and started kissing Lien-Da's neck. She let out a small sigh of satisfaction as he did so for all of 2 seconds.

Bionics shifted and moved on top of her, and she looked deep into his eyes, be they organic or artificial. She gasped and then quietly exclaimed with pleasure as he tenderly started making love to her. She felt him reach the semi-permeable barrier inside her that prevented him from using his full potential, but then he carefully pushed in further and broke through it. She kissed him hard to prevent herself from crying out as the mixture of renewed pleasure and pain hit her senses and Bionics pressed on all the way in. As he paused and looked slightly downwards, staring back into her eyes with concern, she smiled at him.

Then, to make him to go on, Lien-Da nodded slowly. After he had resumed, she also compensated for his renewed and gentle and deliberate rhythmic motions. Soon the pain had all but faded and only the unimaginable pleasure remained. While he continued in his pursuit she brought his head up to hers to try and spare her neck from his amorous advances, but he fought back and did not relent. Lien-Da could feel Bionics' soft lips gently caress her fur and skin, and then his tongue ran along her neck playfully. It seemed that now he would not be denied his lustful craving for her. She laughed and sighed again with loving mirth. That laugh, and that sigh, combined with the music, seemed to echo around the room and through the corridors and out into the night beyond.

* * *

Author's notes: ... Yeah. We have just had a sex scene. I originally intended it to be uber-mild, but then decided to make it descriptive yet as non-explicit as possible. This chapter comes to you with a bitter after-taste, I'm afraid. I fear that I've hit a very nasty case of writer's block. I've lost the magic flair to keep on writing this story. I do think about it, and I know what I'm going to write, but I just can't summon the oomph to get it done. I've decided to take a creative break from this story for a while, just get myself together. I know you're all going to be disappointed by this, but I really don't want to force myself on this. I will return eventually, I give you my word on that. Anyway, onto other things. My undying gratitude goes to Kell0Bell0 once again for her support of me via her encouraging e-mails. Next time (when that comes...) the third and final act of the story begins in earnest. Bionics, Lien-Da, Dimitri and the Dark Legion will be attacking Scourge's power base, and Scourge himself will be setting his final plan into terrible motion. Keep your patience long and your anticipation hot for 'The Knockout Punch'.

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention this. The music that the pair listen to in their intimate moment is 'Undisclosed Desires' by Muse. I originally intended to put the lyrics in the chapter, but I decided against it at the last moment.


	22. Chapter 20: The Knockout Punch

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are copyright of either Sega, Archie comics or Ken Penders. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course.

* * *

**Chapter 20: The Knockout Punch**

The blackness of nothing slowly receded to reveal a blurred image of the conscious world. Bionics woke up slowly. As he did so, and as his brain began to function, he noticed several key things. The first key thing he came to realise was that he woke up in the first place. Having not slept at all for 600 years, not counting the doze two days ago, waking up was quite an unfamiliar experience. The second key thing he noticed was that he woke up peacefully. The doze had put him in a nightmare, and he had awoken violently. To have woken up peacefully meant that he must have had a good night's sleep, and that was something he really wasn't familiar with. The third key thing that he noticed was that he woke up in his own bed in his own bedroom. He suddenly regained his sense of touch to notice he was under a duvet and his head was on a soft pillow. The fourth key thing that he noticed, and this was _the_ key thing, was that he was not alone in his bed; someone else was sharing it.

He shifted himself around gently to look at who was in the bed with him, and he smiled as he saw her. Lien-Da was still in a pleasant sleep, and she was smiling as Bionics gazed at her peaceful and beautiful face. It must be a side effect of love that now he saw her as more attractive than ever before. He let his mechanical hand gently stroke her cheek. Through the metal of his fingers, he could feel the warmth of her skin. In her dreams, Lien-Da's smile grew wider at his touch. He pulled his hand away slowly and then tried as gently as possible to get out of the bed. As he did so he noticed, rather embarrassingly, that he was still quite sticky from last night.

He had taken precautions so not to have any... Well, any sperm cells in his semen. He felt uncomfortable thinking about such things, but it was something of a concern. He didn't want Lien-Da to have a child with him just yet. He would explain to her when she woke how this sort of thing worked. It could upset the balance of the Multiverse if the child of a god and a mortal was born without precautions. He continued to stare at his sticky nether regions and told himself not to be too concerned. He summoned a damp flannel from nowhere and cleaned himself up as best he could. Soon there was nothing left to indicate he had done anything sexual last night, save for his natural modesty patches still being receded. By gentle force of will he pulled his genitalia into his body again and stood up from the bed.

He stood, still nude, in front of the fire and soaked up its all engulfing warmth. He wondered if there would be any repercussions for doing this. He did love Lien-Da with every fibre of his being, and he would move Diamond Alpha and Mobius to protect her. There was the possibility that the Great Creator did not approve of this turn of events. Bionics shook his head at that thought. If the Creator hadn't wanted him to do this, then He would have stopped him long ago. Besides, Lien-Da and he were bonded from the start, so why would the Creator try to stop him? Bionics allowed the dissenting thoughts in his head to be banished, and he looked back into the fire with renewed attention.

He suddenly found himself drawn to look more intently at the fire with unnatural observance. Something wanted him to see something there. As he continued to look at the flames, they blossomed up higher and, without warning, images and events began to play out in front of his eyes like some television from hell. He witnessed himself, on his knees, apparently in a defeated position. He appeared pained, but not restrained and without weapons. Despite the fact the version of him in the image appeared able to fight back, for some reason he did not. This image swirled and burned away to disclose a picture of Scourge. At least, Bionics assumed it was Scourge, because he recognised the jacket and sunglasses. Scourge was different in other vital ways. The flames made it hard to tell, but Scourge's colour had changed, and his head quills were all curving up. His eyes had turned black and his irises had turned an evil shade of red.

Then this too was swept up by the flames so that a new image could be presented. Bionics now saw himself on his knees again, but now he didn't appear to be in physical pain, but certainly mental anguish. His right eye was bloodshot and had tears of unremitting hatred flowing from them to the point where Bionics watching this wondered why his cheek didn't become stained by it. His left eye, usually serene blue with the iris in cyan, had transformed into the most violent shade of red with the iris a fiery orange. In the image, Bionics raised his face to the sky above, rain pouring all around him, and screamed out with bitter hate amplifying his shout to extraordinary levels.

"_DIIIAAABOLUUUS__!"_

Then suddenly it was like the fire leapt at Bionics' vision, waking him up from his viewing of events and launching him backwards onto his bedroom's carpet. He sat up like a flash, forcing out heavy breaths, to look back the fire. The gentle flames flickered and crackled innocently, as though nothing had just happened. He stared at where the images had been with shock and intent. He had a sense of foreboding about what he had just seen. These sorts of premonitions were of events just about to play out.

He knew that these events didn't have to be in chronological order, but they were certain to happen, that much he did know. The final image was the most shocking for two reasons. The first was that Bionics recognised him screaming that way on his very first night on Mobius, when he had met eyes with Lien-Da for the first time. The second reason was that Bionics did not know what could possibly happen to him to bring out such an uncontrolled and unrestrained show of his rage.

He decided that he would simply have to wait to see where it would lead him, even if he didn't like the outcome. He got up from off the carpet and went back over to Lien-Da, who was still curled up in his bed. He lay above the duvet next to her again. He continued to stare at her now gorgeous face with ever more spellbound attention. It was though he was trying to somehow soak up her radiance like a sponge of emotion. His lying down back on the bed had done enough to stir the Kommissar from her contented sleep and he saw her right eye begin to open. He gloried in the sight of that wonderful eye. He was lost in it for a moment, just as he had been on his second day here. As her eyes fully opened to be greeted by the sight of her lover, Lien-Da smile became as broad and as happy as could be. She gave a, "hmmm" of drowsiness and said, slowly, "good morning, handsome." Bionics gave a little huff of irony and replied, "Good morning, beautiful. I don't know about me being handsome with this eye, though. You must still be half asleep, surely."

"Oh, I don't think so" Lien-Da went on with a reassuring tone. "I look beyond that artificial eye to see the true attractiveness beneath. I never thought you would put pleasure before duty." Bionics let his own smile grow now, and leant over to gently nuzzle her nose with his own as he soothingly murmured, "What can I say? The heart asks pleasure first." He could once again feel her soft breath on his face, but now he knew to enjoy it, not be distracted by it. They moved closer to together and shared each other's body warmth for a moment. Bionics reached his head up and gently pressed his lips to her closed eyelid. Lien-Da chuckled, opened the other eye and said, "Alright, that's enough. I need to get up and have a wash. Last night left me rather... messy." Bionics felt another twinge of embarrassment in his heart. He found he still had some small difficulty in accepting it. They had actually made love to one another! It was something he had never even begun to think he would do in his time.

He watched Lien-Da wander, naked as the day she was born, through the door on the right side of his bedroom which led to the bathroom and shower. He stood up and allowed his power armour to form up on his body. He felt the familiar sensation of being sealed in a pod. He felt like he was glowing inside. The world around him also seemed brighter than before. He sighed in his own mind. Damn this all being so clichéd and poetic! He wanted love to be something different to how everyone else experienced it, but it seemed to be as romanticised as it was always made out to be.

He let his cloak and weapons form up about his person along with his already apparent armour. He inspected himself for any perceived fault in his look, and when he found none, he smiled with contentment. After waiting for ten minutes, Lien-Da exited the bathroom, soaking wet and with a towel wrapped around her body. They both shared a smile and Bionics waited for her to dry herself off before he snapped his fingers and let her power armour form back up on her as well. She walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his ribcage and kissed him on the lips. He held her head and joined her in their pursuit. It was only a friendly kiss, not one full of profane passion, but they still took an indescribable warm sensation in doing it. Nevertheless, he could still taste the mild minty sensation in Lien-Da's mouth that indicated toothpaste.

They pulled apart and Lien-Da said, "thank you for last night, Bionics. I could never believe that I would enjoy something like that so much. I feel like the Multiverse has actually decided to make amends for all the stuff that has happened badly to me." Bionics blinked slowly and replied "I know what you mean. Suddenly everything in your life, even the stuff that was awful, suddenly it all has meaning and can be forgotten with something as glorious as this love." He then shook his head slowly and went on, "argh, listen to me. Poor, poetic bastard..." They held the embrace for a short while, and then they pulled gently apart as they made their way out to the lifts to go to breakfast.

As they went, Lien-Da asked the question Bionics had prepared for earlier. "Bionics, I need to know something. What about me getting pregnant? I mean, we didn't use contraception, so I'm bound to have a baby now." Bionics looked at her on his right side and smiled as he answered her question. "We gods have some special abilities when it comes to lovemaking. We can prevent any sex cells from being in our semen if we're male, or if we're female we can block off the womb." Lien-Da did not seem overly taken aback by this strange information, and instead just nodded to show she was reassured. They arrived after everyone else had gotten there, so they quickly took their places and made a start to their chosen meals.

As they continued they made little indication of their newfound coupling, but neither did they come across as strictly business-like. They allowed themselves the vice of a small smile each and their body language was subtly more liberal. Dimitri, thankfully, did not notice these otherwise imperceptible differences and simply got on with the now mundane business of having a set breakfast. Bionics now felt a strange desire for something as he finished the remainder of his cereal and drank the remnants of his tea. He desired to now really end this conflict all the quicker, if only to spend more time with Lien-Da now. He leant forward to get the pair's attention and gently cleared his throat. As they both turned to him, he voiced his plan.

"I think that we should deal the final blow against Scourge today, and end this war now. We need to deliver the knockout punch, if only for the sake of getting peace that little bit quicker." Both of the Dark Legion commanders nodded at this proposition, peace was always going to be better sooner rather than later. Dimitri was the first one to answer, saying, "What do you propose we do to deliver this 'final blow'?" Bionics smiled and huffed in place of a chuckle. He replied, "We need to strike against Scourge's fortress. Gut the monster from the inside, as it were." Both Dimitri and Lien-Da showed a hint of concern upon hearing this. Lien-Da said, "Bionics, that fortress is nigh impregnable. Scourge has a large proportion of his army there; he has automated defences, tanks, and aircraft." He continued to look straight at her with his head tilted and his eyebrows raised in a mildly accusatory manner. She smiled back at him and went on, "it should pose trouble to you, then."

Bionics now did chuckle and then turned to look at Dimitri, who was still considering the possibilities of such an undertaking. Dimitri nodded slowly, and replied to Bionics, "How do you intend to actually achieve entry into the fortress, hmm? I suppose that a frontal assault is out of the question." Bionics nodded and said, "Of course it is, even for me and my soldiers. Considering the Dark Legion also receives better armour than my soldiers it will still not fare well for them if we try the front door. No, I have a much better, and also much more stylish, method of entry."

"Really, and what is that, might I ask?" Dimitri said with a hint of cynicism lacing his words. Bionics grinned and said, "After breakfast, I will show you." He wondered how they would react to his little plan.

* * *

"You have got to be joking, Bionics!"

Lien-Da had heard of odd plans, not bad but just odd, but this one seemed to be quite a belter. They were now all up in the Battle Spire's planning room looking at the holographic displays above the table. She, Bionics, Dimitri, and even NICOLE were standing with eyes fixed on the plan laid out by the machine god. None of his captains were there present, as they were still abroad fighting Scourge's army on the global scale of things. Lien-Da looked at the image, then at Bionics, and finally back again. Bionics shook his head in response to her original exclamation and replied "no, Lien-Da, I am not joking. This method is the way in that Scourge will be least expecting, and it will allow us to bypass the bulk of his forces."

"Uh, yes, it will. It will do so by crashing us through the godsdamn roof at high velocity!" Lien-Da retorted with great ire. Bionics plan was simple enough. He planned to translocate himself, her and the rest of Dark Legion up to the _Solaris_, while a small army of his would make their way up to the fortress's main gates. While this small army created a distraction at the front entrance, the strike team would be launched from the _Solaris_ in high velocity, squad-capacity drop pods at great speed through the atmosphere. The pods would puncture through the fortress's roof and they could get out at a specific location and start causing general mayhem. The plan was full of bravado, but had some sound basis in theory. In practice, though, it seemed to Lien-Da to be suicidal. The inherent fear of being killed in descent or on impact was coupled with the possibility of landing in an area of heavy enemy activity.

She looked at her new lover again, and wondered if last night had addled his brain enough to cause this sudden and unexpected bout of insanity. Bionics remained impassive and said, "The drop pods are completely safe for us to travel in. The strike team will be using power armour and energy shields to add to this. There is no possibility that any of us will be killed or even suffer lasting injuries." Hearing this, and knowing the trustworthy tone of Bionics' voiced on this matter, Lien-Da felt her conscience was assuaged. Dimitri also nodded at the plan. "It will catch Scourge off guard if we come crashing into his own home via the loft."

"Attic," Bionics said as if on reflex, but then his head shuddered and he said also, "sorry, naturally grammatically correct instincts. Anyway, yes, it will catch him off guard. I want to know if the Republic has any major objection to my plans on this, NICOLE." The A.I. shook her head and said ",I am currently relaying a video and audio feed of this conversation to the Council of Acorn; they can see and hear everything I can. They have no qualms with your plan." Bionics nodded and then said, "Well, I suspect that Scourge may have some plans of his own coming up soon, so if we nip this conflict in the bud, it will end that threat. I will give the Dark Legion an hour to be ready. I would prefer to use the whole lot of them for this mission. I will have a contingent of Immortals from the _Solaris_ made ready to sneak down via Guardian transports and attack the main gates with some Predator tanks and Seraphs. Good luck, everyone."

And that was that. The plans had been drawn up and finalised, and so the actual build-up and preparation began. In that hour available, Lien-Da and Dimitri set about equipping the entire Dark Legion for combat. As they did so, and as Bionics came along to check on them, Dimitri voiced an observation of something. "It occurs to me that we still have our old transports from when we first arrived here. We don't really need them anymore, Bionics. Perhaps you can find a more economic use for them than simply destroying them." Bionics, quite against his upright and firm nature, gave a shrug and replied, "I can temporarily store their mechanical 'souls' inside the Spire, and then I can take the empty shells and melt them down and re-forge them into a set of either Guardians or Wolfhound APCs that are specifically for the Dark Legion." Both Dimitri and Lien-Da herself nodded at this idea, and so the order was given.

As they continued the Dark Legion was equipped with the variety of weapons Bionics had in his arsenal. They had rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols, missile launchers, and energy blades of different types. When they were done, and they were all standing outside in their armour and with their weapons for the first time, they truly looked like a legion of the gods themselves. All of them were there, just over three dozen of them; thirty eight soldiers in total. They now had their own personal set of three Wolfhounds and three Guardians made from the repurposed hovercraft stored away beneath the Spire. Lien-Da couldn't help but feel giddy with awe and martial pride. This Dark Legion, in its entirety, would be like no other combat force on Mobius. Bionics appeared beside her in his customary flash of cyan light. In respect to him, the entire Legion performed the salute his own Immortals used. They slammed the stocks of their rifles to the floor in echoing unison and slammed their fists over their hearts. Bionics returned the gesture with pride and they all stood back at ease. Lien-Da smiled as Bionics turned to her with a grin of awe on his face. "Utterly perfect, you will all be without compare." He turned to face the silent and immobile Dark Legion and as Lien-Da watched, she could sense that he was going to give a speech. He breathed in and began.

"Dark Legion, I am not your Lord and master. I never was your Lord and master, no matter what you or any other may believe. I never will be your Lord and master as long as you do not desire it so. I am your ally, I am your host, but should you desire you could all leave me now." He raised his hand to them all in gesture and went on "but you never did leave me. You, all of you, despite your differences of political idea and your old desire for personal supremacy, have forsaken such goals to fight for all things good and just. You have remained loyal even when you could have betrayed me for your own massive benefit. That is the greatest sign of respect to any god, and so I can never tell you how thankful I am to you all. Now we must go forth and end this conflict, for the sake of peace and politics and such things. You know in your hearts that you are not politicians, you are not diplomats, you are not beings purposed for peace."

Now he drew out his combined energy nodachi, activated it, and raised it above his head as he continued in momentum. "You are warriors! Your voices are in your guns and swords, your minds are put to tactics and survival, your souls are tempered and forged in the fires of battle, you are each one of you an implement of warfare, honed to perfection in your craft. Through war you will achieve peace, through bloody deeds you will allow words to flow freely. Past the mud you will tread through, and the blood that will soak you, you will find and journey to the green fields that lie beyond! Now, Dark Legion, harbingers of war, allies of the _Machina Deus_, I ask you that you go forth and fight for all our peace!"

Upon finishing this inspirational speech, the Dark Legion released a grouped roar of battle lust and fired-up souls, and some even fired their guns high into the sky as a gesture of their craving for the fight. Bionics lowered his nodachi and turned back to Lien-Da and she nodded at him in acceptance. She actually wanted to show her love for him there, but thought it would spoil her image. She drew out her own energy weapon in rapier mode, activated it to check it was functioning and placed on her combat helmet. Behind her, Grandmaster Dimitri had even opted to join them on this one, claiming he didn't want the lasers in his arms to be just for show. After the three leaders had checked their weapons, Bionics also put on his own combat helmet and then translocated them all up to the _Solaris_ for the final part of the preparation.

Bionics, and Shipmaster Veho over the comms, directed the Dark Legion to the drop pods and split them into the correct size squads for them to fit in said pods, which could hold up to ten personnel apiece. Dimitri went into a separate pod with some other Legionnaires, leaving Bionics and Lien-Da to quietly make their way into their pod and strap in next to each other. Because of the excess of space, there were some empty spaces in the pods. The pod was designed so that the occupants stood up and were locked in place against the pod's core pillar to prevent injuries. Weapons were stored in metal holsters just next to them. Each individual soldier was separated by a shoulder high block of thin metal. The internal light glowed red as Lien-Da strapped herself into the metal holding straps. She could just turn her head to look at Bionics as he was set up and ready to go. Soon, they would be rocketing down to the planet again, the tension started and so Lien-Da waited for the inevitable countdown.

* * *

A long way away from his fortress, unknown to any of the Republic of Acorn or even the Dark Alliance, Scourge was staring through a pair of binoculars on a distant cliff looking out over a mostly desolate plain. It was quite a wasteland out here. He was staring out over the half-mile distance between his cliff and their first target for the day: The radiation-ridden ruins of Robotropolis. This burnt and husk of a once great city still had a huge amount of radiation pouring from it, and so the Republic of Acorn had devised a cunning solution to deal with it.

There was a massive shield around the city, glowing yellow and green, which absorbed all of the radiation and did something amazingly economical with it. It used the radiation, converted it into clean energy, and sent that energy all the way to power New Mobotropolis and keep its systems functioning. It was a very clean and environmentally friendly way of dealing with the radiation from Robotropolis, but at the same time, it had its weaknesses. The city was out on a dusty and desolate open plain, and there was no natural cover for the whole expanse, meaning that if an army wanted to make an attempt at destroying the shield, they could do so with little hindrance. Despite this flaw, the Republic was not stupid, and so had set up something to defend the shield and ruins.

A hundred or so yards from Robotropolis stood a stout and solid-looking wooden fort, with flags of the Republic flapping over it. This was Fort Acorn, the Republic's defensive structure against any who attempted to sabotage their capital city's power source. The fortress was sufficiently large and held within it one of the Republic's finest military units: The Mes Braves Battalion, founded by the late Armand D'Coolette, Antoine D'Coolette's father, and now headed by Amadeus Prower, Tails' father. They were all grizzled veterans of previous campaigns and were well equipped to challenge any would-be invaders. They had 100 or so soldiers, armed with automatic gunpowder rifles and some lasers, they had a tiny fleet of jeeps and one Freedom Fighter Special Mark 3 supersonic jet plane mounted on diagonal props for quick exit.

The fortress, to any ground force, would be quite intimidating. Scourge, however, was not planning a ground attack. He smiled with the thought of what he was about to do, and turned around to look at Fiona Fox behind him. "Well, you were right, babe. The Mes Braves Battalion seems to be quite well equipped, but as expected they've no anti-aircraft means. They do have that supersonic jet, though, so we may want to shoot at that first." Fiona put her hands on her hips, smiled, and replied, "your call, my king." He looked up into the sky, and knew that waiting there, on silent running, was a good proportion of his cloaked fleet.

Scourge intended to use his fleet to destroy Fort Acorn and the Mes Braves Battalion, and then wreck the radiation absorbing shield around Robotropolis and complete the first part of the plan. He was going to starve the city of its power, which would make it all the weaker for his final assault on the city itself. This was going to be quite the knockout punch for the Republic, and he knew that Bionics as well knew nothing about it. This was crucial, though. They had to ensure no message got out to the Republic before it was too late. If he didn't, then they would inevitably bring Bionics in to stop his plans in a heartbeat. Scourge knew that the city's A.I., NICOLE, would try and do something to stop him, but that virus in her systems would make sure that her efforts would be futile. Besides which, his techs had built a special shoulder-mounted, electro-sonic weapon designed to do great harm to the nanites of New Mobotropolis.

He pulled the communications unit from inside his jacket and held it up to his mouth. "Begin the attack. Jam all their communications." The crackly reply of, "yes, your Highness" reached him, and he heard the sound of massive overhead engines firing up and moving. They sent the jamming signal out with a special frequency which allowed Scourge's forces to communicate normally with no interference. He watched as his splinter fleet de-cloaked and began to charge weapons. He could just imagine the shock being felt by the Mes Braves Battalion right then and there. He went over to Fiona and said to her "I'm going down there, d'you need a lift?" Fiona shook her head and said "I'll take the chopper, thanks." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder to where her attack helicopter was parked and waiting.

"All right, I'll see you down there" Scourge said with an odd smirk of genuine caring, and then he dashed off the edge of the cliff, spindashed to land safely and pounded along the plain up to the fort. He watched his fleet fired its first shots, which did more than the necessary damage in that one salvo. About a quarter of the fort exploded into splinters and chips of wood, and then the energy of the lasers his ships had fired began to disintegrate parts of the wood and set yet more on fire. They had also torn the FFS-M3 jet in half with one laser blast and now its husk lay somewhere within the still standing wooden structure. Scourge heard the screams of several soldiers inside as they died from the volley, and felt a little tingling of perverse enjoyment from it. Let his heart be hardened, and so it had been. He waited for a second and third volley to fire, destroy more of the fort, and kill more of the Battalion, when he gave the order to cease fire and he himself jumped into assess the damage.

Fire and smoke blanketed the inside of Fort Acorn's remains, and most of the vehicles had been totalled. He saw several dead bodies littered around the place, either half disintegrated by the laser blasts or otherwise riddled with long, sharp splinters. This was the ugly side of war, the side no-one really saw, and no-one really talked about. Scourge wrinkled his nose at the smell of it all. Even though it had been but a few seconds, the smell of burning wood and flesh was already quite overpowering. He jumped down as Fiona's attack helicopter arrived to cover him. Despite the chaos and destruction, a large chunk of the Mes Braves Battalion was still alive and, seeing the chopper, began to fire on it with bullets and lasers. Fiona was a good pilot and was able to dodge a good degree of it all. None of the soldiers had yet noticed Scourge, and he made them pay the price for their ignorance.

He spindashed into the surviving soldiers one after the other, disrupting their focus and knocking many of them out. They tried to turn their focus on him, but the confines of his attacks in the fort were too close to get a clear shot. To make matters worse for them, Fiona was now firing bullets and missiles down on them as well. High above, the fleet was moving into position to fire on Robotropolis' shield and then fly like hell to get away from the inevitable wave of radiation. Soon, the remaining soldiers of Mes Braves Battalion were all dead or incapacitated. Scourge allowed himself a smile of small triumph. He knew that now things would be a lot easier to deal with. As he thought this, he heard the unmistakable metallic noise of a sword being drawn from its scabbard behind him.

Instead of turning, he leapt forward to avoid a swing. Scourge then did spin around at distance, to see Amadeus Prower standing with his sabre pointed at him. Amadeus' military uniform was ruffled and had dust on it, but no rips so far. He was bleeding from right cheek where a splinter of wood had caught him there, and his expression was one of almost mad rage. He let out a cry of such anger and charged at Scourge. The king dodged and spindashed into the fox's back, knocking him to the ground and sending the sabre skittering. Amadeus spun around on the floor to look up with disgust at Scourge and spat out "Well, get on with it then! I'm helpless now, so just put me out of my misery." Scourge felt he wanted to at first, but then a spark of doubt flickered in his black heart for a moment. He instead sneered and said to Amadeus "You're far too important to kill, Amadeus. Besides, I'd have thought you'd want to see your son again."

Though Scourge had not intended this sentence to be in anyway suggestive or threatening, that is how it reached Amadeus Prower's ears and his eyes widened with fear and renewed anger. "If you so much as touch my son-"

"Do not worry, Amadeus, I'm not going to do anything to him. I just think it would be best if you and your wife and your son were all together as you watch me burn your city." Scourge then kicked Amadeus in the head, knocking the Fox out in one blow. The Hedgehog sneered again and then picked up Amadeus in an undignified manner in his arms and jumped out of the ruins of Fort Acorn. He put the Fox down on the ground and signalled Fiona to land beside him. When she got there, he told her to take him up to his own flagship and make him comfortable in a cell there.

She took up the unconscious Amadeus and put him in the spare seat behind hers in the attack chopper. She injected him with enough tranquillizers to keep him under until he was well in the confines of his cell. Then she left and Scourge grinned as he raised his communicator one last time and sent the order he had been waiting to all morning. "All ships, fire at will." He watched as the somehow beautiful lasers impacted on the shield, which had not been designed for combat defence, and they disintegrated it in just under a minute of sustained fire. He laughed with evil delight and then made a run for it as the radiation began to pour out from Robotropolis unhindered.

Scourge made his way back up to his original cliff as he watched his fleet disperse and re-cloak to meet up with the main fleet preparing for the strike on New Mobotropolis itself. He knew it would take at least 10 minutes for any noticeable loss of power in the Republic's capital, but by then it would be far too late to stop him. He knew that today, this would all end, one way or another.

* * *

Author's notes: Hey, guys. It was my birthday last week, (I'm now 17 years old) so I thought I'd treat you all by uploading the next couple of chapters for the story. I'm still stuck with the bloody writer's block, and so I'm hoping that doing this might go some way to killing it. I'll upload the next chapter sometime during the week. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next time, our heroes make it into Scourge dark fortress, and we meet another member of the Suppression Squad as we all go 'Into The Breach'.


	23. Chapter 21: Into the Breach

Author's disclaimers: Sonic and all related characters are copyright of either Sega, Archie comics or Ken Penders. Any terminology or characters or details that you read and you know they are not mine, then I also do not pretend to own them even if I happen not to mention them here. All characters and terminology I have previously stated as mine are mine, of course.

* * *

**Chapter 21: Into the Breach**

Before any of what Scourge did at Robotropolis occurred, Bionics, Lien-Da, Dimitri and the rest of the Dark Legion were awaiting their final few moments until they were literally 'fired' at the planet's surface. All of the final preparations for launch had been made, people were in their allocated pods for where they were set to land, and their weapons were primed. Lien-Da herself made her way into Pod 1 alongside Bionics; they would be fighting alongside one another in Scourge's fortress. She kept her energy whip at her side, but put her pistol into the metal holster beside her pod space. She strapped herself into the stand-up pod safety cage and stared at three blank hologram projection lenses in front of her.

After a while, two of these projectors flared into life before her eyes. A three-dimensional, glowing representation of Bionics' head appeared on her right, while a ditto representation of Dimitri's appeared on her left. She was aware that the third projector would likely be projecting her face to the rest of the Legion, as she was the second-in-command and one of the key leaders of the Dark Alliance. Bionics' voice came through as it would through a smooth radio system, but she also heard him clearly from the right of her. "All units, sound off for confirmation of ready status." Lien-Da started the chain of replies with, "Pod One ready." A series of replies came through after hers, starting with Dimitri saying, "Pod Two ready." All in all five pods sounded off to the call, and then Bionics said, "Final checks completed. Commencing drop pod launch in five..." Lien-Da breathed in silently as she heard him begin the countdown. This was it. They would launch any second now. Bionics continued his final descending timer.

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Launch!" As Bionics said this final and crucial word, there was a bang and a thumping sensation throughout the whole pod. Lien-Da felt the world plunge and it was like gravity had suddenly and violently reversed on her. The safety cage and straps kept her from actually flying up or moving anywhere, but the sensation alone was giddying. As soon as it had come, the sensation subsided, and the internal gravity of the pod equalised. She stared at the faces of her ancestor and her lover, who both maintained calm and collected emotions through their holograms. Bionics now said, "We are descending at optimal velocity, passing through the atmosphere now." Lien-Da felt the pod grow a little warmer inside with the heat of atmospheric re-entry, and stared up at the pod's slanted roof.

The drop pod was shaped roughly like a tear drop to allow for minimal wind resistance and maximum speed, so the interior had slanted walls to greet its occupants. She glanced back at Bionics, whose simulated head looked at hers and smiled with a calm exhalation of breath. She smiled back and then looked at Dimitri, who merely offered a curt nod. She began to feel a little cramped in the space, but knew that it would soon be over. Bionics gave confirmation of this by saying, "Thirty seconds to impact." She gripped hold of safety rail as best she could and closed her eyes for a moment. She felt the beginnings of adrenaline surge through her body and invigorate her. It was the new and much more affectionate Lien-Da that closed her eyes, but it was the old, battle-hardened and cold Lien-Da that opened them again.

"Fifteen seconds to impact, all units brace yourselves." The images of Bionics and Dimitri cut off at this point, but the radio channel remained open. Lien-Da felt herself form up a stance that would be ready to launch her from the pod in just the right way to attack. She knew the adrenaline would make this transaction perfect. Bionics' voice was still unusually calm as he said, "five seconds... four... three... two... one... impact!" As Bionics finished this last word, she felt them pass with almost no effort through a thick layer of reinforced metal that was Scourge's fortress's roof. Then there was an almighty jolt as the pods landed with spine-juddering force at key locations _inside_ the otherwise impenetrable citadel.

Barely a few seconds after the shock of impact subsided and the dust settled, the doors of the drop pods literally blasted themselves off with the force of a steam locomotive, smashing into any unfortunate who happened to be in their way. Lien-Da let the safety cage fly up off of her, and as she surged forward the adrenaline did its work and let her grab her pistol without even needing to look. She darted into the room beyond the pod and fired on the first enemy she saw, which happened to be right in front of her. She spun around and brought up her energy whip's handle as Bionics and the other Dark Legionnaires exited the now useless drop pod. The familiar roar of Bionics' Desert Eagle echoed around what was actually a giant antechamber, and the light of the muzzle flash lit up every corner. The sound of rapid gunfire and shouts saturated the air around them all.

Lien-Da paid no attention to these minute details as she activated her whip and cracked it at an enemy soldier. The Moebian was immediately jolted by the electric current of the whip and forced into smoking unconsciousness. She spun around to pick off two more soldiers with her pistol and watched them disintegrate in an instant. Suddenly it all went quiet, and she realised that they had cleared the room of enemies. She felt the internal strain as she sought to reign in her adrenaline rush and calm down. Then she straightened up and turned back to Bionics and her Legionnaires. Two pods had landed inside the antechamber. Even so there were only 14 other Dark Legionnaires with them.

Bionics reloaded and holstered his pistol and drew out his nodachi hilt, saying to Lien-Da, "well, we're inside. We need to discuss a plan of attack, hold on." He closed his eyes and Lien-Da watched as an almost invisible wave of something like ultrasound, yet not so, burst from Bionics, flew out of the antechamber and probed the entire of the fortress. After 10 more seconds he opened his eyes again, and raised his mechanical hand in front of his eyes, palm upwards. There was a flash of light, and a holographic blueprint of the entire fortress appeared in the palm of his hand. Lien-Da made her way over to him, and as she did so barked out, "Legionnaires, cover all entrances to the room." As the soldiers rushed to do their Kommissar's bidding, she herself made her way up close to Bionics to discuss the plan of attack from the blueprints.

* * *

Bionics watched Lien-Da approach him, and as she did he opened up his helmet's comms and attempted to contact Dimitri. "Dimitri, do you copy, over?" There was a reply that was back to the sound of intense gunfire and energy blades being used. "I copy, Bionics, I have landed on the opposite side of the fortress from you, I believe. My forces have encountered heavy resistance here. We can't be killed, but neither can we really move yet, over." Bionics huffed with slight annoyance at this and said, "understood. I'm sending you a copy of the fortress's floor plan for you and your soldiers to navigate with, and our own locations as we move. We ought to make our way to Scourge's throne room and quarters and see if we can catch him there, and for that we need you to link up with us in the 'collections hall', and clear out any soldiers you find along the way. Can you comply, over?"

"I can, Bionics. I'll see you in the collections hall soon, over and out." Bionics switched off the comms and looked back at Lien-Da now. "Do you agree with the plan, Lien-Da?" The Kommissar put her hands on her hips and said back, on her private helmet channel, "of course, Bionics." Bionics smiled at this. It was nice that she only used the private channel with him. It really had its uses to have such features as this in his equipment. He nodded to show his gratitude to her, and then he activated his nodachi to point it down and to his left. "Well then, let's get going."

Over the next two minutes they made their way through baroque corridors and chambers, dealing with garrisons and ambushes and even occasional barricades once the Moebians had figured out just what was happening. Despite these attempts at holding the line, Bionics, Lien-Da and their Dark Legion contingent broke through each one with almost effortless ease. They made their journey through the maze of corridors and halls with lightning speed and precision, and soon they were close to the collections room. It was just one hall and one corridor away from reaching it. Bionics was about to make his way through the massive automatic doors when he stopped dead. He had an ill feeling in the pit of his stomach; a sensation which suggested that in the room beyond, a trap awaited them.

Bionics held out his hand to stop his allies' advance, and they all came to a halt behind his position. "What's wrong, Bionics?" Lien-Da asked him, coming slowly up to his side. Bionics did not look back at her, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on what he could see of the next room, and replied, "in there is a trap. I have a feeling in my gut. Keep the Legionnaires back while I investigate and clear out the room." She complied and gave a series of silent and rapid hand signals to tell the Dark Legion to stay put. Bionics began to slowly pace into the chamber, his energy nodachi held out in front of him, his steps leaving resounding taps on the stone floor. He was soon in the middle of the room, and so far could see no sign of any threat.

His purple bladed nodachi illuminated the darkest corners of the room, and he slowly turned on the spot to see if he could find anything to back up his gut instinct about danger. He was cut off by an alarm blip from his eye's HUD, and as he spun around to face the threat he was launched clean off his feet by an unknown force. He continued flying until he hit the far wall, and had just enough time to see Lien-Da stare at him in shock and start for the door, before it slammed shut with a robust finality. His vision swam for a second, but then he got a fix on his assailant. He was staring at a large figure that had some vague familiarity to him.

Then he realised. The figure in front of him was a Walrus. It was, in fact, pretty much the same Walrus he had seen most recently on the Council of Acorn, but he knew already that this was that Walrus' Moebian counterpart. The Walrus here had no actual clothing, but instead was outfitted with obvious cybernetic enhancements. Half of his upper face was hidden behind a metal mask with a green eye lens to allow for full vision. This mask was attached to a pipe which fed to a metal unit built into the Walrus' back. Integrated into his lower arms was a pair of bulbous metal vambraces, and on these vambraces was a green crystal focusing lens. The cyborg figure grinned evilly and raised one of these focusing lenses to point at Bionics. The machine god's eyes widened and pure instinct made him roll sideways. A series of green, ring-shaped seismic shockwaves flew past him with a thunderous _boom! _These shockwaves destroyed the ground where he had been just seconds before.

Bionics sprang to his feet, allowed his nodachi to fly into his hand again, and dodged another shot from this Walrus's seismic cannons. Bionics activated the blade, along with a selective gravity generating pad in his right hand, and sprang forward to aim a blow at the walrus' left arm. His opponent sidestepped the strike with unnatural grace and fired his other cannon into Bionics' unguarded flank. He was launched, against any form of gravity or air resistance, into another wall. His nodachi had stayed magnetised to his palm by means of the recently activated gravity pad, so he didn't need to try to regain it. He just stayed embedded in the wall and glared painfully at the Walrus. He removed his helmet with his free left hand, spat out some golden blood, groaned and hissed, "it is courtesy to know the name of one's enemy before said enemy defeats him."

"Indeed it is," the Walrus replied casually, and elaborated on the point by saying, "I'm Boomer Walrus, and I'll be the one to shatter your bones today!" Bionics popped from the wall and ducked low to avoid Boomer's attack, and then rolled to dodge the sweep downwards he made afterwards. Bionics made an attempt to get some distance between him and his opponent, but every time he didn't move sideways he was mercilessly flung around by Boomer's attack like a rag doll. Thank the Creator for his metallic bones, or else they would have shattered under the pressure by this time. Bionics felt the red mist begin to descend across his vision, but he tried to fight it off. Uncontrolled rage led to sloppy decisions, sloppy decisions led to more pain and more anger. He dodged more and more sideways, drawing his pistol and firing it expertly at Boomer. The walrus used his hardened vambraces to deflect the bullets and then continued his onslaught.

Bionics leapt over Boomer and aimed shots down at him, all of which were also guarded against. The Walrus spun around to face where Bionics would land, and as he did land there Boomer fired both his cannons at once. Bionics flew once again into a wall, but now Boomer held him there with a continuous stream of seismic shockwaves. Bionics felt the strain of the weapon against his shields and his own body. The weapon wasn't magic or godly, but how in the name of the Diamond Alpha did you stop seismic weapons which are designed to defy gravity, and launch people from place to place? Bionics gritted his teeth and flexed his fingers as best he could under the onslaught of shockwaves.

He struggled with his arms embedded in the rock and suppressed by the seismic waves, and growled as he applied more and more pressure. Soon, that growl turned into a howl of defiant rage and he swung his arms up in front of him. The shockwaves suddenly redirected straight into the god's outstretched palms, where they seemed to be absorbed. Bionics broke free of the wall, leapt down to the ground and began to slowly advance of Boomer, who was starting to look very concerned. Bionics' arms were shaking with the effort of containing such unstable levels of power. He had to be quick. He concentrated as much energy as he dared into his prepared counter-manoeuvre.

He growled loudly with the effort again, drew his arms back until his elbows were fully bent back, and then he launched his arms forward again as if on a spring. Out of his hands came several seismic shockwaves of his own, straight into Boomer's still ceaseless bombardment. The two streams impacted with the force of a bomb. Bionics and Boomer were both launched away from each other with incredible speed. Boomer hit one wall, smashing the metal unit on his back to hell and gone. Bionics hit his own wall again and almost went straight through it in a spread eagled position, palms inwards. His first reaction was for his hands to suddenly and violently grip at the rock of the wall, followed by him opening his eyes, gritting his teeth, growling like a feral thing, and even allowing his artificial eyes to pulse red for longer than usual.

He pried himself from the wall. As he did so he tore two large chunks of it off with him. He charged at Boomer, who was only just breaking free of his section of wall, and he threw the two stone chunks at him with unnatural force, one after the other. Boomer had enough sense to guard against the attack, even with his back unit damaged. He held up his vambraces to stop the rock fragments, but they were hurled with such force that the vambraces were pretty much pulverised by them. Boomer, who was somewhat physically connected to his cybernetics, howled with pain. Bionics stopped dead, and felt a sting in his organic eye as a golden teardrop began to form there. He wiped it away quickly, and summoned his pistol and nodachi from where they had fallen on the floor.

He walked slowly up to Boomer, and stood over him triumphant. He stared down at the stricken Walrus with a grim face on. "Why did you do this to yourself? Were you forced to wear these cybernetic implants?" Boomer looked up at him with anger in his eyes, but then laughed unexpectedly and his expression turned to something like fanaticism. "Of course not, I willingly upgraded myself, I had to break free from insignificance at any cost, even this. I'm glad I have this power." Bionics looked sadly into Boomer's gleaming and power-hungry eyes and shook his head slowly. Boomer looked surprised. He went on, "How can you not agree with me? You are a cyborg yourself, and look at you now. You're a god of machines! You know that these upgrades are gifts of power! Why can't you understand where I'm coming from?

Bionics then spoke again. It was too slow, too deep, very menacing, almost like he was possessed. "These are not gifts... these are curses in disguise... they curse you to a life of bloodshed and conflict... I am not a god because of my upgrades, Boomer..." Bionics then seemed to snap out of his unusual mind state and now stared at his weapons. He knew he had one last bullet in his Desert Eagle now. He looked back at Boomer and said, normally, "I was chosen to be a god on my morals! I believe in good and compassion and peace, you are a creature of anger and malice and war. You have implanted yourself with machines, but that does not make you any more holy in my eyes, or any more important. Your name will not live on in song or word or whisper. You will be forgotten like so many others before you."

Bionics leant down to get right in Boomer's now saddened face and finished by saying, "and there is nothing you can do about it." He stood up and, on cue, an explosion ripped through the room behind him and he spun to see Lien-Da, Dimitri and the whole Dark Legion burst through the doors they had just blown up. Dimitri had at last linked up with them all. Bionics began to walk over to them slowly. Then he felt the world around him get naturally dulled. Sound became dulled, but had a painful echo.

Time slowed.

He thought he heard a stirring behind him through the faint absence of any noise. He stared at the faces of his allies, and the fact they were now looking behind him confirmed his suspicions, as did a sudden warning blip from his eye's HUD again. He slowly turned on his heel to be met with the sight of Boomer yelling silently in rage and charging at him with his battered and unstable vambraces flaring into life. Bionics knew that if those weapons fired, then this entire room would be enveloped in the unstable shockwave that would result from such damaged weapons. The Dark Legion would be killed. Lien-Da would be killed. Bionics' eyes didn't widen, he didn't run or yell or dodge, he didn't even prepare to get into defence. He simply raised his Desert Eagle, with its last remaining bullet, and pointed it at Boomer's head. He pulled the trigger. To the casual observer, the weapon's reciprocation was perfectly visible. The gunshot was perfectly clear. In its wake, sound returned and time resumed its course.

Behind him the Dark Legion just stared. The barrel of his pistol was smoking gently, half of the body had shifted back to show the gun was empty. Bionics looked at Boomer, who had stopped a yard away from him. Bionics' bullet had passed through his head's half-mask's green lens, so now was cracked and had an ominous black hole in the exact centre. Boomer's expression became one of sadness and surprise. No blood came from the wound, but it made no difference to the outcome of its victim. Boomer stared distantly for a moment at Bionics. It would be the last face he ever saw. Boomer Walrus fell forward onto his knees, and was already dead before the rest of him collided with the cold stone floor.

There was utter silence for a span of time without meaning. Bionics just stood there, looking at Boomer's body without a hint of anything, any emotion, on his face. Eventually he fully lowered his pistol and holstered it, along with his nodachi hilt. He turned to look at the entire Dark Legion, who merely stared back with no expression possible under their helmets. Dimitri's living metal features allowed him to show some emotion, but his expression was set as cold and compassionless. Lien-Da took off her helmet and looked into Bionics' eyes with a hint of sadness. Bionics didn't feel any emotion at this point. He had faced an enemy and killed him. He had done the same thing countless times before. It didn't matter or change anything.

He walked up to the doors which led to the collections hall, and pushed then open with a certain degree of ease. He took one last look at the Legion behind him, nodded slowly, and walked off down the final corridor. Behind him, the Dark Legion quickly fell in.

* * *

Bionics didn't see it, but Lien-Da took one last look at the late Boomer's sad corpse and felt a twinge of regret about all of this. Bionics had appeared not to have any emotion about this, but she had seen his eyes, and they were full of hurt. Underneath that entire facade of a cold killer and a dutiful god was a soul which screamed at the bloodshed and cried out for peace. She knew because she had one the same, and his eyes told all the truth she needed to see. She uncharacteristically said a quick prayer for Boomer's soul, and then she promised Aurora and the Great Creator and any other deity that was out there, that when this sordid mess was over, she would go with Bionics and find peace with him wherever that may lie. It was her choice, and she would make it right when the time came. She quickly ran out of the hall to catch up with the others.

* * *

Author's notes: CHARACTER DEATH! OMG! I did wonder if it would be a good idea, but then I thought, 'it makes it unique'. So yes, Boomer is dead, and he sure as hell ain't coming back! Anyway, apologies for delay on this promised chapter here, folks, I just didn't have the time. Not much else to say really. So wait for next time when Scourge's assault on New Mobotropolis truly begins, and Bionics and Co. discover this nefarious plot in 'Capital Punishment'.


	24. Author's Intermission

**Author's Intermission**

Hey folks. I've got some bad news. No, some REALLY bad news.

The memory stick I was using to hold the whole Machina Deus story, along with all my other story concepts, pictures, school work, etc. has broken. It is kaput.

And Machina Deus has gone right along with it. A year and a half's worth of writing, over 150, 000 words, and all the chapters I had lined up for you, are gone. I'm hoping I can get my memory stick's data salvaged at my local computer shop, but things aren't looking up.

So, basically, this is a very serious and very crucial point in time for me. I have a choice. I can try and re-write everything I had done up to on this story, but this WILL take me absolute months to do now, and with my inability to write anything beyond a trickle at the moments, could potentially be longer.

The second option, and the sadder one by far, is that I just stop. I stop writing Machina Deus.

I know this will probably upset a lot of you really faithful readers who've stuck with me through all this. The problem is, though, that now I just don't think I can re-write it the same way as before, and it will actually drain my creativity to do it. I may want to see what you think of my work, but I only write this for pleasure, and now the pleasure won't be there anymore.

I need some time to think this over, and while I may listen to input, I don't know if it will count for much anymore. I just don't want to force myself to write it all again. The sad thing is that I also had all my 'Kamen Rider Sonic' data on my stick for 'brave kid', so that probably won't last either.

You've no idea how much it upsets me here to have to tell you all this, but you deserve to know. To brave kid… I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry, but I don't know if I can do your story anymore. I'm shaking as I write this, but honestly, you may need to find someone else to write your story. I don't want to break your heart after all the enthusiasm and commitment with notes you've given me, it certainly breaks my heart now, but I beg you to forgive me, and always remember… Nobody's perfect.

Anyway, for the rest of you, I'm still considering it. Machina Deus is still my own, and it hurts to let it go, but part of me was a little dry on it. I'll think about it, and we'll see.

The fate of Machina Deus hangs by a thread… but don't get your hopes up too high. I'm considering it. That is all.

I am so sorry, everyone. For now... Machina Deus is buried.


End file.
